


Familiar Fire

by VariableMammal



Series: Zootopia: The Empowered [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, Major Original Character(s), POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-01-30 15:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 58,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12656373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VariableMammal/pseuds/VariableMammal
Summary: In a different Zootopia, some mammals are born with fantastic powers. For a hundred years, the "empowered" have roamed around the earth, though there is an unusual concentration of them in the Gleaming City.This is the story of one of those mammals. Struggling with her abilities and power, Brittany Voxen must face the difficulty of growing up in the world of the Zootopia Empowered Divison, where there are many other empowered mammals under the charge of Commander Bogo.Through it all, Brittany must learn where her feelings and allegiances lie. Not all empowered mammals use their abilities for noble ends, and some toe a gray line...





	1. From the Ashes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover Art by [Roahm Mythril](http://www.dragonsoftstudio.com/)

   

    Zootopia. It was called the Gleaming City. A hub home to every kind of mammal imaginable; it contained representatives from all parts of the globe. It was also the center of a curious phenomenon that began developing over the last one hundred years.  
  
    Certain mammals were being born "empowered", seemingly at random. An "empowered" had fantastic abilities, the power to manipulate water, read minds, or the like. The powers seemed to be doled out randomly, present from birth in the affected mammals. Zootopia, for some reason, had the highest concentration of empowered mammals of any place on earth.  
  
    No one knew why mammals were being born this way. There were some unusual, if poorly-documented, celestial phenomena that occurred during the turn of the previous century. Something about stars flashing too brightly at night, and in different colors, an unusually high concentration of meteors, things of that nature.  
  
    Once the empowered became aware of their powers, well, that was when things began to change drastically in Zootopia.  
  
    There was a huge crime wave as super-powered mammals with desires for easy wealth ran rampant. Still others used their powers to their advantage to settle grudges with their enemies. Certain empowered mammals tried to stand up to these new super-criminals, but they were unorganized. As normal society feared and shunned all kinds of empowered, some of these would-be heroes even turned to crime themselves to make ends meet.  
  
    It would take three decades into the first incident before an organization was developed to research and gain control of the swelling empowered problem.  
  
    That organization was the ZED, the Zootopia Empowered Division. A branch of the government, headed by chosen officials and under a strict structure.  
  
    Over time, the super-powered agents of the ZED were able to cull most super-crime. Unempowered mammals were able to carry out their normal lives; sometimes only experiencing one or two incidents of super-powered crime in a decade.  
  
    However, Zootopia proved to be like a dry forest when it came to the empowered. All it would take is one spark of flame in the wrong place to cause fiery devastation.  


* * *

  
    Brittany Voxen was a special fox. Not outwardly, outwardly she was very similar to many other vixens her age. A young kit of nine, she was a red fox, the most common and among the largest of all foxes. Though predators were a minority in Zootopia, you could see foxes about anywhere predators could be found. Nothing looked outwardly peculiar about her, from her traditionally-colored fur to her warm brown eyes.  
  
    Appearances, however, are often deceiving. Brittany was an empowered mammal.  
  
    Red foxes had a curiously high rate of being born empowered compared to other mammals. Anything attempting to explain this was just a theory. Scientists supposed that their genetic structure was predisposed to being altered by whatever event changed the earth a hundred years ago. Meanwhile, fundamentalists believed texts from old religions that put their powers as being granted by spiritual vulpine beings called "nine-tails".  
  
    Whatever the case, the Voxens tried to raise their little kit as a "normal" girl as best they could. They taught her all the important lessons, to be polite, not to talk to strangers, and most importantly, never to play with fire.  
  
    This was especially pertinent in Brittany's case, as she had demonstrated the power to control fire. This manifested from near infancy, when open flames bent and leaped out of their host fuel to her will.  
  
    One day, Brittany's mother Delilah was walking her home from school. The Voxens liked keeping an extra pair of eyes on Brittany at all times because of her powers, and warned her to never play with them.  
  
    Brittany was happy enough as she walked with her mother. It was a very cold winter day, but neither extreme of temperature seemed to really bother the little girl. In fact, she tended to wear lighter clothes at all time, to the bafflement of most that saw her when it was cold out.  
  
    As the blocks passed, the routine of the walk settled Delilah into complacency. She stopped paying attention to the kit at her side, and didn't notice as Brittany saw an unusual sight in an alley, and rushed toward it.  
  
    There was a middle-aged moose there, huddled near a tall barrel, rubbing his hooves together. Above the drum roared a fire, crackling and dancing in the drum.  
  
    Brittany's brow furrowed as she took this in. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but here this stranger was playing with fire. It seemed very dangerous.  
  
    "Little girl, where're your parents?" The moose's teeth chattered. "And aren't you _cold_?"  
  
    "Yh-you shouldn't be playing with fire, mister," Brittany pointed accusingly at the moose. "It's not safe."  
  
    The moose rolled his eyes and said nothing else.  
  
    Seeing as the much taller mammal wasn't going to listen to reason, Brittany decided to act. She held her hands forward, and the flames of the fire obediently leaped out of the drum of the barrel and started swirling around the open space of her hands like comets of fire. The moose staggered backwards, bracing himself against the building.  
  
    "Hh- oh-okay kit... don't hurt me," the moose's knees began to wobble, his voice weak and quiet. "Jh-just don't hurt me...!"  
  
    "I'm not going to hurt you, but you shouldn't use fire, it's dangerous," Brittany said in an authoritatively childish voice, then marched off, "holding" the orb of fire as it levitated just inches from her paws. She decided to go home.  
  
    Brittany lived halfway up an apartment complex just a couple of blocks down. Upon getting off at the correct floor, she "knocked" on the door with her foot.  
  
    "Daddy? What should I do with this?"  
  
    The door opened to reveal Brittany's father Nigel, a fox in his forties. He flinched and yipped at the sight of his daughter.  
  
    "Brittany!?" Nigel squeaked out. "Where's your mother? Why do you have a _fireball_!?"  
  
    "I took it away from a moose who had set a barrel on fire," Brittany reported. "I dunno what to do now."  
  
    "Why did you bring it  _home_ with you!?" Nigel shrieked. "You have to- ghh...!?"  
  
    The intense heat of the fireball caused Nigel to back up slightly. Seeing the discomfort it was causing her father, Brittany looked out to a window of their apartment, seeing it was open. She walked with purpose over to the open window, rearing back her hands.  
  
    "Brittany, NO!" Nigel screamed. "You can't throw it out the window! Let me get the fire extinguisher!" Without thinking, he grasped onto her shoulder firmly to halt her. Too firmly.  
  
    "Urk...!" Brittany jostled and the fireball slipped out of her control, just for a moment, where it tumbled to the ground and quickly started to consume its surroundings.  
  
    "No... no!" Nigel grabbed Brittany by the shirt, yanking her back. "Brittany! Let me get the ex-!"  
  
    Brittany gasped as the fire hungrily started to spread. She was shocked at the accident, and her silent pleas to abate the fire seemed to fall on deaf ears. The fire would no longer listen to her, and she didn't know why. She began to panic as much as her father.  
  
    By the time her father got their personal fire extinguisher to put out the growing flames, it was ineffective. Nigel grabbed his daughter and spirited her away from the apartment, pulling the fire alarm on the way.  
  
    The next few seconds were chaos. Brittany heard her father yelling into the phone as he called the fire department and he made his way down the fire escape, with her held close to him. As they got onto the ground level, Nigel shoved his phone into his pocket and looked around desperately for red foxes. Finding his concerned wife staring at the building, he rushed over to her.  
  
    "Nigel, oh my God!" Delilah wailed. "Brittany, where have you been!? The apartment building is on fire...!?"  
  
    "There was an accident," Nigel's voice was shaking. "We've got to get out of here."  
  
    "Was it...?" Delilah's eyes flickered down to her daughter briefly. Brittany had tears welling in her eyes and was hiccuping, unable to fully process the situation.  
  
    "We've got to _move_ , Delilah," Nigel panted, "who knows what will happen once the government hears about this."  
  
    Delilah cast a desperate look to the smoking building, dread and terror in her eyes. "Oo-kay, let's go... wuh-we'll take the metro to the Meadowlands."  
  
    Before Brittany knew it, the small fox family was on a subway train headed to the outskirts of Zootopia, the Meadowlands, which lay to the north beyond the Rainforest District.  
  
    The little fox was trembling as her father pet her shoulder.  
  
    "I... I didn't mean it..." Brittany mumbled through her haze of fear.  
  
    "Shh," Nigel said vacantly, "we don't need to talk about it now."  


* * *

  
    The three approached a small, comfortable-looking house in the Meadowlands. Her paw shaking and adrenaline coursing through her, Delilah knocked on it as loudly as she could muster.  
  
    "Trevor Fisk, really?" Nigel frowned as he kept Brittany close to her.  
  
    "Do you have a better idea?" Delilah's words were much more frightened than she meant them to sound, her voice wavering.  
  
    The door opened to a male fox who looked much like Delilah in certain ways.  
  
    "What's this? What's going on?" Trevor asked, instantly suspicious.  
  
    "Trevor, we need a place to stay," Delilah said, "just for a few days."  
  
    "What's- oh no..." Trevor looked down at the young fox, who was shivering out of fear. "You can't stay here."  
  
    "Trevor!" Nigel grit his teeth, trying to hold Brittany steady. "Delilah's your sister!"  
  
    "I'm not taking you in while you've got that little witch with you," Trevor sneered at Brittany, who cowered. Something seemed to occur to him, and he rushed over to his TV, flipping on the news.  
  
    "-in Downtown Zootopia. The fire is nearly under control, but much of the building was engulfed completely. Due to proper evacuation, there were no fatalities, but some mammals are being treated for smoke inhalation. The source of the fire is unknown."  
  
    Delilah and Nigel couldn't help shooting each other a look.  
  
    "That's you, isn't it? That's your daughter!" Trevor pointed accusingly at the TV. "I said this was gonna happen someday, didn't I? Didn't I!?"  
  
    "Trevor, it was an accident!" Delilah yelled desperately. "She's never burned anything on purpose!"  
  
    "Well that's a relief to hear," Trevor said sarcastically, "that she's only completely destroyed the residence of  _how_ many mammals now?"  
  
    Brittany cringed and began to sob openly, feeling helpless and ashamed due to her uncle's angry tirade.  
  
    " _Please_ , Trevor," Delilah's voice weakened, "just for  _two_ days."  
  
    Trevor said nothing, folding his arms.  


* * *

  
    The following evening, things were very still. Nigel had tried to reassure Brittany, who was terrified and did not sleep well the previous night. Delilah had gotten no sleep. She'd lost most of her things, and was lucky enough to have her husband and daughter unharmed. Nigel carried blame in his heart for spooking his daughter; he spent most of the night wondering whether the situation might have been resolved differently if he hadn't panicked. He thought of a dozen other scenarios where things could have gone right, but none of them were the reality they were now facing.  
  
    Trevor hadn't said more than ten words to the three foxes all day. He was calm-looking, but his sister knew that usually meant he was seething.  
  
    At almost exactly 9:00 PM, there was a knock at the door. Trevor moved to open it.  
  
    "Come in," he said tersely.  
  
    In walked the imposing figure of a large, blue-tinged cape buffalo. His outfit was black, and very official-looking. Both adult Voxens looked immediately terrified at his presence.  
  
    "My name is Commander Bogo," said the buffalo. "Zootopia Empowered Divison."  
  
    A flash of Delilah's brown fist flew across the air in an instant. It landed true and Trevor's muzzle snapped to the side.  
  
    "YOU _DOG_!" Delilah shrieked louder than she ever had before. "You _sold us OUT_? Your own _sister_!? Your _niece_!?"  
  
    "Delilah!" Nigel reached out for Delilah's other wrist. "Easy now...!" His wife quickly whipped her paw away from him.  
  
    Trevor rubbed his muzzle, but his eyes stared at the ground and he said nothing. Brittany drew back, cowering at the sudden violence.  
  
    "Let's all just calm down a moment," Commander Bogo said in a deep, compelling voice, holding both hooves up in caution. "I'm here just to confirm information I was given."  
  
    Bogo's eyes met Brittany's for a moment, and she felt an indescribable fear. Bogo's own eyes seemed to widen ever so slightly, then he narrowed one eye.  
  
    "Your daughter... she is an empowered," Bogo stated. It was not a question.  
  
    Delilah couldn't take it anymore, collapsing on the couch and beginning to wail.  
  
    "Momma...?" Brittany looked to her, confusion and terror gripping the young vixen's heart.  
  
    "Listen, sir, Mr. Bogo," Nigel waved a hand. "You'll have to forgive my wife. She's prone to fits of hysteria. She- she must have forgotten to take her medicine today." Brittany backed away a step when Bogo walked calmly toward Brittany and crouched down to be somewhat more on her level.  
  
    "Little girl, what powers do you have?" The buffalo asked calmly.  
  
    "I... I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," Brittany managed to say, though she was very frightened.  
  
    Bogo smiled softly. "Hm. Good girl." He stood back up, towering over both her and her father.  
  
    "So um, sir, I don't know what information you may have gotten, but..." Nigel held his arms out wide in a shrug.  
  
    "I'm not here to forcibly take your daughter away," Bogo said. "Mister..."  
  
    Nigel didn't respond while trying to think up a false name.  
  
    "They're the Voxens," Trevor glared at his brother-in-law, still smarting from his sister's punch.  
  
    "Trevor, if you don't...!" Delilah gnashed her teeth and growled.  
  
    "Momma...?" Brittany's voice wavered even more than before.  
  
    "Let me finish," Bogo said firmly. "As I said, I am not here to cause trouble. I am here to make an offer. If your daughter were possessed of a powerful, dangerous ability, say for instance, the ability to manipulate fire, I could offer you a special program to induct her in."  
  
    "What- what sort of 'program'?" Nigel sneered.  
  
    "At the ZED, we have special training programs available for the empowered," Bogo held his arms behind his back, standing up straight. "As she is a minor, she would be treated as such and given an education of a standard curriculum, and also we could observe her powers and suppress them if necessary."  
  
    "You're asking us to give up our daughter," Nigel huffed incredulously, "and put her in some sort of government facility. E-even if she was an empowered, the answer would be no. Are you crazy?"  
  
    "You'd be able to visit her at any time," Bogo stipulated. "Her age would preclude her from the induction into any sort of activity involving using her powers in the field."  
  
    "This is insane," Nigel shook his head. "I won't hear any more of this."  
  
    "Very well," Bogo stepped forward and offered Nigel a small card. "Call this number if you change your mind, and we will make the necessary arrangements."  
  
    Nigel stared incredulously at the sleek, almost futuristic-looking card of the ZED. He was tempted to try to crush it right in front of Bogo, but something stopped him.  
  
    "Good day," Bogo said tersely, leaving the house.  
  
    "She can't stay here," Trevor repeated, "so either you two start living in a hotel until you get back on your paws, or you take his deal."  
  
    "Stop talking, Trevor," Nigel sneered. "I don't want things to get ugly in front of Brittany again, but if you keep this up they definitely will be going that way."  
  
    "The nerve of you two," Trevor growled, "to step into _my_ house and make demands of _me_ while you have your little fire-starter, that just _burned down your home_ , in tow."  
  
    "Let's just... let's all get some sleep," Nigel started to encourage both his wife and child to the guest room. "We'll talk about things in the morning, with a clear head."  


* * *

  
    Brittany's eyes remained open, unblinking, staring at the wall. She pretended to be asleep, but she overheard her parents' murmurs across the room.  
  
    "I can't believe you're even considering this, Nigel..." Delilah's quiet voice sounded more defeated than angry. "We don't need Trevor's place. We can live in hotels for awhile."  
  
    "But for how long, Delilah...?" Nigel sighed. "It sounds like we have the chance to give Brittany a better life..."  
  
    "A better _life_...!?" Delilah hissed, then lowered her voice a little. "We're her _parents_ , Nigel!"  
  
    "I know that, but we're also not empowered," Nigel's voice cracked a little, "and we'll never be able to fully understand her or her powers."  
  
    "She doesn't need to ever _use_ them!" Delilah countered. "She can go through her life without them!"  
  
    "Do we know that, though?" Nigel swallowed with difficulty. "You've read about those empowered whose powers go haywire during puberty, right? What if she's like that? How many more homes might we lose just because we won't admit we're in over our heads?"  
  
    "Nigel... I can't believe you..."  
  
    "He did say we could visit her whenever we wanted..."  
  
    Brittany felt a chill. It sounded very much like she was going to be abandoned to that scary buffalo. She couldn't help but lunge out of her bed and rush over to her parents' bedside.  
  
    "Mom, dad... I- I'm sorry," Brittany wailed, "I didn't mean to use my powers. I didn't mean to set it all on fire! I'm ss-sorry...!"  
  
    As her emotions flared up, the very air around her seemed to warm considerably. Delilah gasped, panic engulfing her as the cool winter air in the room started to feel more like a summer's day.  
  
    "Shh, Brittany, it's okay," Nigel hugged Brittany close to him, even though this soon became physically painful, as Brittany's sniveling continued to heat the surroundings. "Shhhh... it's okay." As Nigel pet his daughter's back, the climate slowly slipped back down to normal as the little fox's mumbling and sniffling petered out.  
  
    Nigel let go, trying to disguise his grunt of discomfort; his fur very faintly smelling singed. Delilah took this in with a sniff, a look of horror and helplessness on her face. Had Brittany come close to creating fire all by herself, just because of her intense emotion? Delilah couldn't say, but the thought filled her with dread.  
  
    "...Maybe we can find some sort of... something to work out with them," Delilah found herself saying without thinking.  


* * *

  
    A few days later, Brittany was in the back seat of a lavish black car. Built for all sorts of mammals, it was almost comically large for the small vixen, but the adjustable seat belt held her firm in the back seat. Tighter still were her arms folded against her chest; an intense glower on her face. The driver of the vehicle was none other than Commander Bogo.  
  
    "I hate you," Brittany said to the driver.  
  
    "I do get that a lot," Bogo responded dryly.  
  
    "You're taking me away from Mom and Dad," the vixen sneered. "I don't want to live at this ZED place."  
  
    "I understand," Bogo nodded. "However, with any luck we'll be able to help you fully understand your powers. You'll also get to meet others with powers, too. Though... I suppose none quite so young as yourself. Doesn't that sound fun?"  
  
    "No," Brittany said contrarily, staring out the window. "I want to go home. I shouldn't haveta go somewhere special to live just 'cause I have special powers."  
  
    "I know what you're saying," Commander Bogo groaned, "but sometimes that is just the way of things."  
  
    "I should set this car on fire," Brittany snipped. "Then I wouldn't have to go."  
  
    "Please don't," Bogo managed to say with only a small hint of alarm, looking at the miffed red fox in the back seat. "That would only complicate matters."  
  
    They passed through a security checkpoint and off to a complex of buildings. Brittany couldn't read the sign fast enough, and didn't really care to, but it said something about "Zootopia Empowered Division", she guessed.  
  
    "Now, we'll take you to where you'll be living; we can go buy you some things a bit later to make the place nice and comfy for you, all right?" Bogo's voice was slightly higher and a little patronizing.  
  
    "I'm nine years old," Brittany huffed, "you don't have to talk to me like a little girl."  
  
    "Ah yes, well," Bogo snorted, "as I don't have any children of my own, I suppose I didn't know."  
  
    Brittany felt both angry and hurt as the car parked near a friendly-enough looking building, though it was still alien to the small vixen. She worried intensely about what was going on, and was frustrated that she couldn't fully understand why everything was happening so quickly around her, and why things had to change so drastically.  
  
    It took about five minutes of her staring angrily at Bogo before she took her seat belt off and followed him into the complex.  
  
    "All right, Brittany Voxen," Chief Bogo gestured to the large complex. It smelled strange inside, with a lot of smells that she wasn't used to. She sniffed curiously, and momentarily forgot about her anger. "Welcome to the ZED."  
  
    Brittany snapped back to her scowl. She was sure she'd hate the place.            


	2. The Hearth

    Delilah fussed around with the placement of some plush dolls in Brittany's ZED room. It was comfortable-looking, if somewhat bare. Brittany saw many of her favorite kinds of plush animals, mostly various cute, round birds. She tilted her head over to her father, who was placing some clothes of Brittany's favorite colors in the drawers, mostly yellows and pastel purples.  
  
    "Do I really have to live here...?" Brittany asked as her room was slowly but surely decorated.   
  
    "I'm afraid so, sweetie," Nigel gave her an apologetic smile. "Hopefully just for a little while. We're gonna try to get situated and get things back to normal, then we'll see if they can get your powers under control."  
  
    "It's 'cause I burned down our building, isn't it?" Brittany looked down. Her mother came over to her and gently tilted her muzzle upwards.  
  
    "Now now, honey, don't you worry about that, okay?" Delilah smiled shakily. "We'll come visit you as often as we can, and when we get a little more stable we'll see about getting you a phone so you can keep in touch with us whenever you want."  
  
    "Okay..." Brittany nodded as her mother hugged her.  
  
    At the door to the fox's new room, a rotund cheetah appeared. He was dressed in official ZED clothes, yet they seemed looser and less formal than the other ZED members.  
  
    "Hello...!" The cheetah's voice was gentle and friendly. "My name is Benjamin Clawhauser, one of the tutors here. I'll be giving your daughter her standard education."  
  
    "Ah, hello, nice to meet you," Nigel politely shook the paw of the larger mammal. "I'm Nigel Voxen, and this is Delilah and Brittany."  
  
    "Good to meet you too!" Benjamin took out a card and handed it to Nigel after he had enthusiastically shook his paw. "I'm one of the main 'bridges' to normal society here at the ZED, so if you want to set up regular meetings with your daughter, you can do that through me, okay? We'll work out whatever we can."  
  
    "Thank you so much," Delilah said with a sigh, her paws clasped together. "Oh! I almost forgot." The vixen dug around in her purse, producing a few small, colorful candies. "Here's a few bits of candy for you for being a good girl about this."  
  
    "Starbits!" Brittany gasped, taking them in her paws and starting to chew on one.  
  
    "Brittany's got a bit of a sweet fang, huh?" Benjamin giggled. He raised his hand. "I'm guilty of that, myself." The two adult foxes politely said nothing to follow that, but gave each other a look.  
  
    "Starbits are her favorite, really any chewy, fruity candy," Delilah said, "and especially especially the lemon or orange flavors."  
  
    "I will keep that in mind!" Benjamin said enthusiastically.   
  
    "Brittany, we have to go now, okay?" Delilah ran her paw over her daughter's head.  
  
    "Already?" She whined.  
  
    Delilah nodded. "We have an appointment to get everything with our renter's insurance all squared away. We'll come back soon, okay?"  
  
    "Okay..." Brittany nodded, accepting a hug from both parents.  
  
    "Come along, you three," Benjamin beckoned them. "I can lead you out, then I'll show you around, Brittany!"  
  
    The big cheetah led the family to the security checkpoint, where they said goodbye again to their daughter and passed through it. Brittany whimpered a bit, looking up at Benjamin.  
  
    "It's tough, I know..." Benjamin sighed, nodding. "But we'll try to have some fun here, okay?"  
  
    "You're my teacher?" The little fox tilted her head. "Are you gonna help me with my powers?"  
  
    "Not with your powers," Benjamin smiled, "I'm just a regular teacher. And you're my youngest student, so I'll have to see about getting a syllabus that's just right for you. We'll make sure you're a bright and smart little fox!"  
  
    Brittany smiled a little. "School's okay... but mostly cause there's a lot of fun mammals there."  
  
    "There's a lot of fun mammals here too!" Benjamin insisted, starting to walk back to the main complex with her.   
  
    For the first time, Brittany noticed a large fountain in the courtyard of the ZED. In its center was a big statue of a broad-shouldered stag. He wore a bomber jacket, had had his hands placed on his hips.  
  
    "Whoa, who's that...?" Brittany stared up at the large structure in wonder, as the soft babble of the fountain filled the air.  
  
    "Ohhh... that's a statue of Theodore Standler," Benjamin looked up at it proudly, "also known as Thunder Striker! He was the ZED's first Enforcer; our first 'superhero'!"  
  
    "Really?" The little fox's eyes lit up at this information. "What were his powers?"  
  
    "His antlers were like lightning rods," Benjamin said, his voice becoming mysterious and adventurous as he easily captured the vixen's attention. He wiggled his fingers. "Every time he got struck by lightning, POW! The energy lingered in his body; he was like a super-powered battery! He could use the energy of the lightning for both super speed  _and_ super strength! He knocked out so many bad guys; he was a legend!"  
  
    "What happened to him?" Brittany wondered, glancing at the statue before turning back to the enthused cheetah.  
  
    "Oh, he retired!" Benjamin laughed. "He was never actually defeated; he just got old and his powers started to weaken. That and his aging body meant he couldn't really be a superhero like he used to." The cheetah's face grew serious and he bent over, holding up a finger. "But... not all of the Enforcers are so lucky. That's why priority number one of learning how to use your powers is _safety_. Got that?"  
  
    "Uh huh, safety," Brittany repeated with a couple of nods.   
  
    "Good girl!" Benjamin cheered up again, heading into the main building of the complex. "There's so much to show you, and so many mammals to meet! Let's see who we can fi-"  
  
    Benjamin nearly ran into Commander Bogo, who appeared out of a doorway.  
  
    "Ah, very good, Clawhauser," Bogo snorted as he saw the cheetah leading Brittany around. "I was looking for young Ms. Voxen. I'll take things from here."  
  
    "Wha...?" Brittany immediately protested. "Mr. Clawhauser said he'd show me around!" She looked between the two. "He's a lot nicer than you!"  
  
    Bogo huffed in mild amusement. "I'm aware of that. However, Mr. Clawhauser has some other important work to do, such as getting materials for your studies ready."  
  
    "Ah, yes sir," Benjamin saluted. "I'll see you soon, Brittany!" The cheetah waved and left.  
  
    Brittany looked up with a cross expression at the towering buffalo, her arms folded across her chest and her cheeks slightly puffed out.  
  
    "Well, shall I show you around then?" Bogo seemed unfazed and gestured deeper into the facility.  
  
    "Fine..." Brittany grumbled.  
  
    Curiosity overcame the little fox as she walked with the much larger buffalo through the facility.  
  
    "So... what kinda power does Mr. Clawhauser have?"  
  
    "Clawhauser has no special power," Bogo replied.   
  
    "Wha... then why is he here?" Brittany looked confused.  
  
    "He's here because he's good at his job," Bogo said, looking distracted. "It takes all kinds of mammals to run the ZED; not just empowered ones."  
  
    "Do  _you_ have any special powers?" The vixen rushed to keep step with Bogo after considering this statement for a few seconds.  
  
    Bogo sighed, his brow falling. "Please hold onto your questions until the end of the tour."  
  
    Not too long after, the two nearly ran into an arctic hare around a corner. Her white ears with tiny black tips went straight up and the pupils shrank in her icy blue irises.  
  
    "Commander Bogo, sir!"  
  
    "Ah, I wanted to introduce you two," Bogo gestured to the little fox. "Brittany Voxen, this is Karen Skippel."  
  
    "Do  _you_ have any special powers?" Brittany asked immediately.  
  
    Karen's eyes darted between Bogo and Brittany, and her upper lip curled up in hesitation.  
  
    "Um, Commander, you do realize this is a _child_..."  
  
    "I had noticed that, yes," Bogo replied, his voice still deep and heavy with gravity.  
  
    "Karen's a funny name for a boy," Brittany grinned.  
  
    Karen's brow fell. "Uh, I'm a fully-grown adult female, thank you. ...Though I guess my voice  _does_ sound kind of scratchy and ambiguous..."  
  
    "What's 'ambiguous' mean?" Brittany barely managed to pronounce the word in question correctly.  
  
    The white arctic hare looked desperately at Commander Bogo. "Sir, I'm... I'm no good with children."  
  
    "Nor am I asking you to be," Bogo held his hands behind his back. "I merely ask that you do your job."  
  
    "Ah, right," Karen lifted the tablet she was holding and pressed some icons on it.  
  
    "Karen is our head of R&D," Bogo explained to Brittany, and as he could see a question brewing on her small face, he added: "Research and Development. She analyzes special powers of members of the ZED and comes up with gadgets and inventions to help them control their powers."  
  
    "Ohh..."  
  
    Bogo nodded. "Her special power is her intelligence."  
  
    Karen tapped a finger on the side of her device. "That's kind of you, sir, but I am not actually supernaturally intelligent. ...Okay, so... Britanny 'Voxen' was it? What sort of special powers does she display?"  
  
    "Thermokinesis," Bogo replied.  
  
    "...Really," Karen cast a wary look to the buffalo, then the fox. "All right then, so noted."  
  
    "She'll need some sort of focus," Bogo went on, "a device she could potentially summon fire from."  
  
    "So... a lighter," Karen gave a hint of a smile.  
  
    "I would hope you could come up with something more sophisticated and less volatile than that," Bogo returned the smirk, but only barely.  
  
    "Um, yes sir, I'll see what I can do," Karen nodded, then made her way off.  
  
    "She doesn't seem very friendly," Brittany observed.  
  
    "She can be a bit cold to people she does not know well," Bogo said, continuing to move with Brittany.  
  
    "Oh, because she's an arctic hare," the little fox nodded, as if this made perfect sense.   
  
    Bogo made a quizzical face at the illogical leap, but decided not to comment on it. The two eventually came to a fork in the main building's paths. The way right looked well lit and like much of the rest of the building, but the way left had malfunctioning lighting, caution tape in front of the entrance to the hall, and severe damage to the structure of the passage.  
  
    "Whoa..."  
  
    "Here at the ZED we prioritize safety," Bogo said, "this is the west wing of the main building. I forbid you to go here."  
  
    "It's dangerous? What happened?" Brittany looked up with wonder.  
  
    "Some time ago there was an attack centered here," Bogo said, "and unfortunately we have been so strapped with our resources that we have not found the time or money to fix it. I do not want you playing around here, do you understand?"  
  
    "Uh huh, it looks scary..." she nodded.  
  
    There was a quiet whispering sound that came from the midst of the rubble in the hall.  
  
    "That's because..." started an unfamiliar, quiet voice.  
  
    A cyan spectral vulpine form leaped out from the hallway and lunged at the two.  
  
    "IT'S HAUNTED!"  
  
    Brittany shrilly screamed and hid behind Bogo, who didn't react at all.  
  
    "It's a ghost! A _ghost_!" Brittany wailed, eyes tearing. "Can't you see her!?"  
  
    "Yes, I can see her, and no, it's  _not_ a ghost," Bogo rubbed his temples impatiently. He sighed heavily, glaring at the floating semi-transparent form in front of them as it grinned wildly. "That's not amusing, Skye. You scared a _child_."  
  
    "Aww, you're no fun, Bobo," Skye rolled her eyes. "This place can be so dull sometimes..."  
  
    "W-w-wuh...?" Brittany shivered. "That's not a ghost...?"  
  
    "Not exactly," Bogo grunted. "Skye is... well, she's a special case. There was an incident where Skye was gravely injured here at the facility and lapsed into a coma. Now, we had been researching her because she's a red fox with the power of flight, which she inherited from her father, so we were testing what role genetics play in carrying on powers from parent to child. But when she was in the coma, she started displaying this other power."  
  
    "The power to be a ghost...?" Brittany looked baffled. "Even if she isn't dead...?"  
  
    "We call it an astral projection," Bogo said. "At first, it did seem like a ghost, heedless of its surroundings. But then, Skye's personality slowly started to manifest itself into the projection. We don't know if it's because she's getting a better hold on the power or she's getting better and might recover from the coma soon. We're hoping the latter."  
  
    "You're too kind," Skye giggled. "Hey, sorry for scaring you, li'l foxy. We should play hide and seek sometime."  
  
    "Uh uh..." Brittany shook her head firmly. "You'll just hide somewhere and spook me again."  
  
    "Once bitten," Bogo scolded the spectral fox. "She still hasn't recovered most of her respect, though I suppose when you're appearing as a carefree spirit, I shouldn't be surprised."  
  
    "You're just angry because my subconscious knows how to have a good time, Bobo," Skye's projection kicked back in midair and grinned at the two.   
  
    "It's _Bogo_ ," Brittany found the courage to correct her pointedly with her index finger.  
  
    "Yeah, I know," Skye said, then vanished with a laugh that Brittany found creepy.  
  
    "So yes, another reason not to just wander the complex unsupervised," Bogo grumbled.   
  
    "Are there lots of weird things like that...?" Brittany murmured.  
  
    Before Bogo could answer, a hippopotamus in a ZED uniform rushed over to the two.  
  
    "Commander!" The hippo saluted.  
  
    "Higgins?"   
  
    "Sir, we have reports of an empowered armadillo robbing a convenience store, apparently with some sort of string adhesive!"  
  
    "Affirmative," Bogo said, adjusting an earpiece. "To the command room." He seemed to remember something, then looked down at Brittany. "Go back to your room, Brittany."  
  
    "B-but, I don't know how to get there from here..!" She replied, fearing Skye would try to scare her again as soon as she was alone.  
  
    "...Ugh, I don't have time to- oh fine," Bogo beckoned. "Follow me to the command room. But try to keep your questions to a minimum."  
  
    "Um...!" Brittany followed as the two larger animals headed to a central room. The room was rife with other mammals working on monitors and computers, and looked much more futuristic than anything she'd seen before.   
  
    "Fangmeyer, report to the command room!" Bogo bellowed, holding onto his earpiece. Brittany was overwhelmed by the whirl of activity in the room, but her curiosity caused her excitement to rise at all the bustle.  
  
    Into the room rushed a confident, statuesque tigress. Brittany's jaw dropped as the large tiger cracked her knuckles and neck. She strode over to Bogo.  
  
    "Sir," was all she said.  
  
    "Fangmeyer, we have reports of a robbery at 52nd and Patch," Bogo took a seat at a large chair in the middle of the room and looked at a screen. "Adhesive string-based powers. Armadillo. Female. Apprehend her."  
  
    The tigress nodded and gave Brittany the briefest of looks, and a tiny smirk. Brittany was thoroughly impressed at the intense presence of the ZED member.   
  
    "Is Fangmeyer her superhero name...?" Brittany whispered loudly to Bogo.  
  
    "No, I despise aliases," Bogo grunted. "Please keep quiet." Brittany didn't know what an 'alias' was, but she really wanted to keep observing her surroundings, so she shut her muzzle.  
  
    Fangmeyer walked over to a rhinoceros seated behind Bogo in the back of the room and touched his horn lightly.  
  
    "Link established," the rhino said.  
  
    "Very good, McHorn," Bogo replied. "Onscreen."  
  
    McHorn's horn began to glow and it displayed another view of the room on the main view-screen. Brittany was beyond confused, especially when the view seemed to swivel when Fangmeyer turned her head and moved to leave.  
  
    "What's going on?" The fox couldn't help but ask.  
  
    "McHorn can display a projection of what someone sees," Higgins said, "depending on who last touched his horn. That's his special power!"  
  
    "Higgins, please focus on your task," Bogo said, "there will be time to indulge questions later."  
  
    "Uh, uh, of course, sir!" Higgins nodded rapidly and got back to his station.  
  
    Almost as soon as Brittany looked back at the display, she saw open sky and Fangmeyer's arms outstretched.  
  
    "Wha- is she _flying_?" Brittany gasped with wonder.  
  
    "Sort of, little miss!" Higgins answered without thinking. "She can manipulate wind to her will! That's her special power!"  
  
    "Higgins!" Bogo barked.  
  
    "Sorry, sir!" Higgins saluted, going ramrod straight. "She's just too cute, sir!"  
  
    Brittany giggled, and returned her attention back to the view-screen. Before she knew it, she was looking at an alley, at the end of which was an armadillo carrying a purse bulging with money.  
  
    "I am Enforcer Fangmeyer of the ZED-E," Fangmeyer was heard to say over speakers. "Drop your riches and surrender."  
  
    "Ha, not likely!" The female armadillo smirked, dropping her purse. "I bet you've never seen powers like those of the Armawidow before!"  
  
    Bogo slapped his forehead and sloughed his hand off his face. "I  _hate_ it when they use aliases..."  
  
    The 'Armawidow' thrust her hands forward and got a running start. Her fingertips shot out little lines of string that wrapped around a nearby light pole. She started to swing around the pole several times before letting go, curling into a ball at the last moment and hurling herself at high speed toward Fangmeyer.  
  
    However, the ponderous nature of the attack's setup meant Fangmeyer had plenty of time to prepare. She merely shot a single blast of strong wind, which sent the balled-up attacker flying back into a wall.  
  
    "Hrgh!" The Armawidow slid down the wall, but quickly got back up. "Y-you think you're so tough because you're a tiger, huh!?"  
  
    "I will give you one more chance to surrender," Fangmeyer warned.  
  
    "Hraagh!" The armadillo shot more bits of string, latching onto the tiger's shoulders. She tugged forward with all of her might and launched straight at Fangmeyer once more in a ball shape. This time, Fangmeyer didn't even shoot a blast of wind, she merely caught the offending armadillo and tossed her back.  
  
    When a swipe of one claw proved insufficient to cut the thick string, Fangmeyer motioned swiftly with a hand and a wind shear shot out from it, slicing through the string that bound the two so that the Armawidow didn't simply bounce back into the tigress again.  
  
    "Whoa..." Brittany marveled.  
  
    The Armawidow struggled to her feet again and looked like she would try something else, but Fangmeyer thrust her hand forward, projecting a continuous gust of strong wind that blew the armadillo straight into the far wall. She tried to fight the wind, but was unable, eventually ending up on her back while Fangmeyer walked forward. She knelt down and zip-tied both the criminal's wrists and her feet.  
  
    "You're under arrest," Fangmeyer stated simply.  
  
    "Fangmeyer is _so cool_!" Brittany hopped with glee, her paws near her mouth.  
  
    "Nh-not so fast!" The Armawidow rocked backward and sprayed string from all of her fingers and toes, adhering her to the wall. "I'm not going anywhere! And don't try using your wind slicer thing to break these bonds! I can keep spraying web as long as you can do your powers!"  
  
    Fangmeyer sighed, and extended all of her claws on one paw.  
  
    Brittany yipped in alarm and closed her eyes, putting her paws on her face. She only peeked through them when she heard the odd sound of clothing ripping and a distinct lack of screaming. Fangmeyer had apparently torn off part of her uniform, used a wind shear to cut the strings, then quickly tied the scraps of material around the offending extremities of the armadillo, rendering her powers useless.  
  
    "...Well, crap," the Armawidow was out of options.  
  
    "Mission complete," Fangmeyer said, picking up the helpless would-be criminal.  
  
    "Take her to the ZED Detention Center," Bogo said. "Have Grizzoli send me a report. That's enough, McHorn."  
  
    The display vanished. Bogo turned his head and touched his headpiece.  
  
    "Skippel, order Fangmeyer another uniform."  
  
    "Again!?" Karen's voice wailed over the speaker. Higgins snorted in amusement.  
  
    "All right, Brittany, now that things have settled, let's get you back to your room," Bogo said, rising up and leading the way.  
  
    Brittany followed after a nod, almost in a daze. She couldn't believe how much she had misjudged this ZED place. It was a place of action; a place of superheroes and legends! It was almost like a dream come true; like something greater than her wildest imaginings. She couldn't believe that she was going to be a part of this organization.  
  
    Very suddenly, the little vixen wanted to be a superhero more than anything else she'd ever desired.


	3. Flickering Flames

    Three years passed.  
  
    Brittany was now twelve, and had fully settled into life at the ZED. The school work was challenging but fair, and her teacher's attention to making sure she understood the material helped her out immensely. It helped that Benjamin was a kind, patient teacher and very approachable even outside of the classroom.  
  
    Brittany's father Nigel visited her one day and the two hugged after Benjamin admitted him into her room. The place definitely looked like it had Brittany's interests in mind and a good deal of it was decorated with cute round bird plushes. She also had a couple of framed certificates she had gotten for being an honors student for the last two years.   
  
    "Hi, sweetheart," Nigel said as hugged his daughter, who returned the hug tightly. "Goodness, how much you're growing..."  
  
    "Hey Dad," Brittany released the hug, but her expression was troubled. "Wh-where's Mom...?"  
  
    "Ah, she's busy," the adult fox looked instantly apologetic.   
  
    "You- you two aren't visiting as often lately," Brittany frowned. "Are you sure you're not mad at me for what I did?"  
  
    "Oh, honey," Nigel smiled, patting her on the head, "that's all in the past now. It's just- your mother and I are both working hard to make ends meet. Being a fox in Zootopia can be challenging at times. We've gotten pretty much everything we lost back and then some. But we can't replace you, okay?"   
  
    "Okay..." the young vixen smiled slightly.  
  
    "How's she doing with her studies?" Nigel asked Benjamin.  
  
    "Oh, she's just great!" Benjamin smiled, clasping his hands together. "She really tries hard! Every time she aces a test, I give her a few Starbits to sweeten the deal."  
  
    "Ah," Nigel chuckled, "that's a nice motivator." He grinned back at his daughter, but she had a melancholy expression, her eyes downcast. "Well- um... what's wrong, Brittany?"  
  
    "I'm not really getting a lot of practice with my powers..." Brittany shrugged. "They keep doing these like, benchmark and metric tests of how well I can control my fire."  
  
    "Is that... not going well?" Nigel looked to Benjamin.  
  
    "Well, Commander Bogo handles most of her power training," Benjamin shrugged, "but from what I hear, she has a much easier time creating fire than dispelling it."  
  
    "It's no fun to only get to use my abilities a few times a year," Brittany huffed and folded her arms.   
  
    "Well, sweetie, you do have a very dangerous power," Nigel chewed on his lower lip. "Is there any way they could accelerate her training there?"  
  
    "We've only ever had a few ZED trainees that were pre-puberty," Benjamin explained, "we try to take it very easy on them until they finish puberty... usually there can be things like power spikes or even entirely new powers that awaken during that time."  
  
    "Ah, yes, of course," Nigel nodded, "I had heard some empowered go haywire during puberty." He took in an unsteady breath and knelt next to Brittany. "You're just going to have to be patient for a little while longer. Before long, you'll be a fully grown vixen, and maybe then-"  
  
    "I'll be one of the ZED-E!" Brittany held her fists close to her face. Both Benjamin and Nigel looked shocked.  
  
    "...Um, what's that?" Nigel cast a confused glance to Clawhauser again.  
  
    "Uh... a ZED-E is an Enforcer..." Benjamin tittered nervously. "They fight super-powered crime. That's not- er, definitely not in the cards."  
  
    "What...!?" Brittany yelled. "Why not?"  
  
    "None of the Enforcers are under legal age, Brittany," Clawhauser explained, "it's against the law, and it just doesn't make any sense besides."  
  
    "Well then- I- I just need to train more so I can be an Enforcer when I get old enough!" Brittany wrestled her expression into a smile.  
  
    "I dunno, sweetheart," Nigel looked mortified, though he was trying to hide it, "that sounds very dangerous."  
  
    "The ZED is where heroes are made!" Brittany almost whined, looking at her father. "I wanna be a hero... what else am I going to use my powers for?"  
  
    "...I mean, you don't  _have_ to use them," Nigel half-smiled with trepidation, "part of this program is supposed to be controlling your powers, right? So you can keep them under control...?"  
  
    Brittany's brow raised; she looked quite discouraged.  
  
    "I'll... um... I'll talk to your mother about this," Nigel swallowed, "but just- just temper your expectations, okay honey?"  
  
    "Okay... well, I'm supposed to have a class pretty soon, so I guess I should get ready to go..." Brittany looked up to Benjamin, who nodded.   
  
    "I'm proud of you, honey," Nigel gave Brittany one more hug. "It sounds like you're doing well and you're focused on the important thing, your education. Ah, and we finally got you your phone!" Nigel handed her a phone in a soft yellow case with a bird face design on the back.  
  
    "Ooh, thanks Daddy!" Brittany instantly looked happy again at the new treasure, placing it carefully on her desk and getting her school things together.   
  
    Nigel walked outside her room and leaned in to Benjamin while Brittany was distracted.  
  
    "There's... no way she'll become an Enforcer, right? I remember in the agreement we signed, it said there would absolutely be no sort of work like that for her."  
  
    "That's correct, sir," Benjamin nodded, "it's illegal to induct anyone into the Enforcer program under the age of eighteen, and even then, only exceptionally-skilled applicants are considered when they're that young. It also has to be the applicant's choice."  
  
    "Okay... good," Nigel nodded, casting one look back to his daughter, who was smiling at her phone. She waved at him as he walked off.      
  


* * *

  
    Brittany was seated for her daily class in Benjamin's classroom. Though the class was small in size, Brittany was still the youngest mammal there. The collection of empowered mammals there was rather eclectic.   
  
    There was a colt named Daniel; he was just a couple of years older than Brittany. Energetic and spry, he was nearly always enthusiastic outside of class even though he had to wear power limiters on his wrists. This was because his upper hooves discharged an immense amount of energy to anything they touched, and he could easily break things. He liked to call his power the "Horse Force".  
  
    Then there was a river otter named Callie, who had two years on Daniel. She was lazy in class and didn't apply herself, mostly because she had no enthusiasm about her powers. She had the ability to create bubbles with her mouth, and her power was so mundane that she was one of the few allowed to use it in class. Despite Commander Bogo saying that she had "great potential", she didn't seem to believe it.  
  
    For her part, Brittany managed to pay attention in class, as she was determined to prove that she could be in a class with older mammals. Though she struggled a bit with math, she loved vocabulary. She often found the older members of the ZED used complicated language that she didn't understand, so she wanted to learn more and more words so she sounded smarter.  
  
    Midway through that week's vocabulary lesson, the door to the classroom opened, and Commander Bogo leaned his head in from the hallway.  
  
    "Oh, good afternoon, Commander!" Benjamin seemed pleased.  
  
    "Greetings," Bogo said tersely, "I require Miss Voxen."  
  
    Brittany straightened up, feeling a surge of apprehension throughout her body as several eyes were on her. Slowly, clapping and cheering started in the class, and the young vixen started to feel very self-conscious. She gave Benjamin a questioning look, but he nodded and then tilted his head over to the buffalo. Looking back on the class sidelong as she walked out, she saw Daniel clicking his hooves against his wrists and joking with one of his friends.  
  
    "What did I do...?" Brittany asked as they left the class and walked into the greater complex. "Am I in trouble?"  
  
    "Nothing, and not at all," Bogo said, though his voice was, as always, more businesslike than comforting. He did aim a small smile at Brittany when he continued. "Usually here, when you get called out of class it's for something special. Typically because Skippel has finished something."  
  
    The arctic hare! Brittany blinked. Did that mean she was going to get some special gear? The thought immediately enthused her, and her eyes sparkled. Commander Bogo gestured to Enforcer Fangmeyer to join them, which only caused Brittany to gasp and her spirit to soar even higher. The three entered an elevator in the main complex of the building and Bogo pressed the button for the third basement floor.  
  
    "We're headed down to the testing facility," Bogo said, as he eyed Brittany inhaling, presumably to ask that very question. "Skippel has something to show you."  
  
    Karen was there, in front of a large and seemingly blank room separated from the landing area of the elevator by complicated doors. She did look the part of a television scientist with a lab coat and a tablet opened to a bunch of graphs and notes, ready to record data.   
  
    "Hello, Miss Voxen," Karen greeted cordially, "I've got a prototype for you to try out."  
  
    "Ooh! What is it?" Brittany balled her fists in excitement. She appeared slightly confused as she really didn't see anything around the head of research and development that looked unusual.   
  
    "It's this," Karen said, handing her a thin metal cylinder.   
  
    Brittany quickly made a face of distaste. "A pen?"  
  
    "Not exactly," Karen smirked, quite enjoying when she got to show off the fruits of her labor. "This is a prototype for a device that will allow you to summon your fire powers easily. As it is the prototype, it has only a very small amount of the compound I've developed, at the very top of the cylinder." She tapped at it. "This compound should ignite fairly easily, but is not volatile, so there's little danger of an errant explosion."  
  
    "Could you tone down the language a bit, Skippel?" Bogo grumbled. "You are talking to a twelve-year-old." Fangmeyer seemed to hide a snicker.  
  
    "I understood that!" Brittany argued. "Volatile means easily changeable, and errant means going away from the intended course!"  
  
    "Ah, very good," Bogo said, but he didn't sound like he meant it. Brittany's brow fell with a smile as she felt a proud burst anyway.  
  
    "You may take this and head to the testing room," Karen left the cool metal object in Brittany's paw.  
  
    "It's like a... a wand, huh?" Brittany grinned.  
  
    Karen's nose twitched at the unscientific term, but she shrugged. "Basically."  
  
    Brittany took the wand and was admitted into the door leading to the testing area. She felt excitement and fear brewing as she stood in the blank room by herself.  
  
    "Now, we know you can manipulate existing fires," Karen said through a speaker in the room, "so let's see if you can create them. Make sure to hold the- ugh... the 'wand's' tip as far away from you as you can."  
  
    Brittany obeyed the arctic hare, and she felt her desire to use this new device nearly overwhelm her. Nearly instantaneously, the tip of the wand caught fire.  
  
    "Huh!" The vixen exhaled in delight. "I did it!" The fire flared up to a greater size as if it was as proud of itself as Brittany was.  
  
    "Oh, great! That's good data," Karen messed around with her tablet. "Now, can you use your powers to put the fire _out_?"  
  
    "Um..." Brittany grit her teeth. "I don't know if I can- I've never put a fire  _out_ with my powers before..."  
  
    "Just remain calm and focus on the task," Bogo instructed over the speaker. "I know you're capable of this."  
  
    Though Brittany tried to will the fire away, her fear was rising as it seemed to disobey that request. In fact, the fire enlarged further, brightening and flickering at the tip of the wand. Brittany held out the wand with both hands as far away as she could as panic gripped her.  
  
    "I can't do it-!" Brittany wailed. "It's only getting bigger!"  
  
    "Fangmeyer," Bogo said tersely. The tigress Enforcer nodded and entered the testing area. With a sustained blast of wind focused on the wand's tip, the fire was quickly quelled and went out, much to Brittany's relief and awe. The burst of wind was so precise that Brittany still had a solid grip on the wand itself, and her fur was barely ruffled by the rushing air.  
  
    "Eheh..." Brittany shot a guilty smile to Fangmeyer.  
  
    Fangmeyer responded with a grin and a short thumbs up. "You'll get it someday, kit."  
  
    The vixen felt relieved at the encouragement, but her spirit sank a bit at the blank looks from Karen and Bogo.  
  
    "Okay, good test," Karen nodded, extending a paw. "Relinquish the 'wand' to me."  
  
    "Relinquish...?" Brittany looked at Bogo, holding the wand closer to herself.  
  
    "She means give it to her," Bogo rolled his eyes.  
  
    Hesitantly, Brittany complied. "I don't get to keep it?"  
  
    "This one's just a prototype," Karen explained. "I plan on adding some other features like a much greater capacity for a fuel supply and the ability to replace it, and perhaps a way to extend the size of the wand so you can create fires at safer distances." Karen barked out a little laugh. "Oh, _nice_. Even though that fire was substantial, you only consumed less than one percent of the compound with that fireball! That bodes well for the efficacy of the compound I-"  
  
    "Yes, very good, Skippel, why don't you see to that?" Bogo huffed impatiently. "You're dismissed as well, Fangmeyer."  
  
    The tigress nodded and winked at Brittany as she left. The little fox felt a small surge of hope again, but as the elevator was called and left with Karen and Fangmeyer, she was left alone with Bogo, and she stared with no small amount of apprehension up at him.  
  
    "That, and we don't really have a need for you to cause fires easily outside of testing purposes," Bogo said.  
  
    "Right..." Brittany bowed her head a bit before raising it back up. "Commander Bogo... is there any chance I could be an Enforcer in the future?"  
  
    Commander Bogo gave her a long, appraising look. It seemed to cycle through several subtle indications of confusion, a tinge of apprehension, and finally back to his resolutely firm face.  
  
    "I wouldn't entirely rule it out," Bogo said finally. "However, you have a lot of growing to do, in all aspects. We need to see what that growth will do to your powers, and if you can get them under control."  
  
    "And if I can't...?" Brittany's voice sunk.  
  
    "Well, we'll just have Skippel come up with some sort of inhibitor for you, that's all," Bogo said. "Don't despair, Brittany. You're too young for that. Now... I have things to do, so you can escort yourself back to class if you know the way."  
  
    Brittany nodded, and headed to call the elevator. Before it arrived, she looked back at Commander Bogo, who was entering some data onto a console.  
  
    "...Do you think I'll ever get control of my powers? The power to make fire go away and not just start it?" Brittany chewed on her bottom lip.  
  
    "I know you can, Brittany," Bogo said, sparing her only a glance. The tone of his voice wasn't very encouraging, but it was... convinced? She took the little bit of comfort she could from that, and headed back to class. At least she was pretty good at vocabulary words, but if Karen was anything to go by, she had a lot to learn.   
  
    She sighed. Brittany had a lot to learn about a lot of things.  
  


* * *

  
    A few days later, Brittany had the day off, and she was exploring the ZED complex, as she often liked to. As long as she didn't get in the way of the Enforcers, no one seemed to mind, other than Commander Bogo, who hadn't really made much of an effort to stop her.   
  
    On that particular day, the young vixen was looking around the main lobby of the complex. Everything looked so clean at the ZED. There were a lot of round edges and light, whitish colors. Brittany wondered how the place was maintained; perhaps there was an empowered with the power to clean things? The thought that Callie might be being groomed for such a role with her bubble powers brought Brittany a bit of mirth.  
  
    She turned around to the entrance, though, and saw an unusual sight.  
  
    Striding through the entrance was a small, gray bunny; she was even smaller than the young fox by a few inches. Her purple eyes shone with purpose, and her bright expression seemed so resolutely happy that it brought Brittany a bit of confusion.  
  
    The  _most_ confusing thing, however, was that she had a ZED Enforcer uniform on. Brittany knew each member of the Enforcers' roster and their unique abilities; it was really fun to discover what information there was to know about them. She had  _never_ seen someone like this bunny at all.  
  
    "Hey!" The bunny greeted her brightly with her hands on her hips. "The name's Judy Hopps!" She offered her paw in a fist. "Ready to make the world a better place?"  
  
    "Um... kind of?" Brittany chuckled, gently touching fists with the bunny. "I'm a little too young though, I guess..."  
  
    "Ha! No one is too young to make the world a better place," Judy seemed utterly convinced of this. "And if you think so, all you have to do is get older, which only takes time!"   
  
    "...What are you doing here?" Brittany wondered.  
  
    "Oh! I'm here for the Enforcer program," Judy grinned. "I was supposed to meet Commander Bogo in the testing facility... but I was so excited that I've already forgotten where I was supposed to go...?" Her eyes darted this way and that.  
  
    "Uh, it's down on the third basement floor," Brittany pointed at the elevator in the lobby. "Can't miss it from there."  
  
    "Thanks! Thank you, so much," Judy's excitement seemed to redouble as soon as she received this information. She rushed over to the elevator and seemed to stretch up on her tip toes to wave at Brittany. "Bye! See you soon!"  
  
    The moment the bunny was out of sight, Brittany felt an illogical surge of anger. Here she'd been trying to gain control of her powers for three years, and this random bunny she'd never even seen before becomes an Enforcer just like that? She was so tiny, too! As Brittany stormed around with her arms swinging to relieve her anger for a few minutes, she saw a couple of Starbits candies on a counter. They were cherry and lime; not her favorite flavors, but they'd do. She took them and chewed them, reveling in their sweet and tart flavor. It was enough to forget about the perceived injustice she'd just witnessed.  
  
     _Thmmm...._  
  
    Brittany's eyes opened from the sound and feeling of rumbles seeming to come from below the complex. She rushed to the elevator and took it to the training facility's floor.   
  
    As expected, Commander Bogo and Karen Skippel were there. Inside the room was Judy Hopps, apparently displaying her power.  
  
    "And one of these!" Her voice came over the speaker on the other side of the room. She kicked at the air, and a deep clapping sound was heard as at the flick of her foot, a transparent distortion was created in midair, releasing a shockwave that traveled through the room and caused a soft rumble in the outside area.  
  
    "Mmm, most impress-" Bogo started, then looked behind him and saw Brittany, who walked forward to check out the action. "Brittany Voxen. What are you doing here?"  
  
    "I wanted to see what was going on," Brittany explained, "I heard rumbling."  
  
    "It is not wise to go toward something potentially dangerous you know nothing about," Bogo said with mild exhaustion. "Regardless, you may stay for now. Miss Hopps is displaying her abilities."  
  
    "The sheer force of her kick-shockwaves is staggering," Karen marveled, looking at some sensor data. "She destroyed a couple of the weaker pressure sensors with just her first kick, and one of the stronger ones looks like it's buckling."  
  
    "And I'm extra resistant to shock, too!" Judy said through the speaker. "Makes me much more resilient than I look!"  
  
    Brittany's brow furrowed, almost of its own accord.  
  
    Bogo leaned over into the microphone. "Let's see you kick without creating a shockwave."  
  
    "Oh, easy!" Judy said. "I just have to keep the right muscle loose... and..." the bunny released a kick that did not cause a shockwave, though it appeared fairly brutal by bunny standards. She kicked twice more, once creating a shockwave, and once not. "See?"      
  
    Bogo kept the microphone off. "Hm, demonstrates excellent control over her powers." He turned the microphone on. "Have you discovered any other practical application for your shockwaves?"  
  
    "Um..." Judy seemed to think. "I can do this...!" Judy crouched down and kicked at the ground. The shockwave's burst sent her leaping very high into the air, nearly grazing the ceiling of the large room. She then continued to kick at the air to create more shockwaves, "juggling" herself in midair by jumping continuously.  
  
    Brittany was momentarily impressed, but began to feel insulted again.  
  
    "Rather creative with her powers too..." Bogo observed, then leaned into the mic. "All right, that will be enough."  
  
    Judy landed from her jumping demonstration, her enthusiasm slowly draining from her exertion and the finality in Bogo's voice.   
  
    "Welcome to the ZED Enforcers, Enforcer Hopps," Bogo said.  
  
    "Yes!" Judy shouted. "Yes yes yes yes!" She pumped her fists wildly.  
  
    "Shoo, good thing her  _arms_ don't cause explosions..." Karen huffed.  
  
    "Sheesh..." Brittany sucked her teeth and folded her arms. "Why's some little  _bunny_ get to be an Enforcer?"  
  
    "Well, this 'little bunny' single-handedly stopped a crime wave in Bunnyburrow a year back," Bogo explained. "Or, I suppose that would be 'single-footedly'." Karen wagged her head at this, but the dry delivery of the sentence caused it to fly over Brittany's head.  
  
    "But she's- she looks barely my age!" Brittany protested with her arms out.  
  
    "There you go with your weird inability to judge lapine ages," Karen rolled her eyes, "she's an adult. About my age, I would guess."  
  
    "Indeed," Bogo nodded. "And we need more Enforcers like her. Ones with power, control, and a desire to help their fellow mammal."  
  
    "Tch..." Brittany decided she'd seen enough, huffing and taking the elevator back into the lobby, where she sulked around some more.  
  
    A few minutes passed, and Brittany decided she was going to head back to her room, when she heard Bogo's voice coming from the middle of the lobby.  
  
    "Where did my Starbits go?"  
  
    Brittany froze and slowly turned around.  
  
    "...Um," she squeaked, "I didn't know they were yours?"  
  
    "You ate them?" Bogo replied.  
  
    Higgins gasped as he walked by, a hand to his mouth. "You ate the Commander's Starbits?"  
  
    "Hmph," Bogo snorted. "Well, though I'm not your teacher, I suppose I can still teach you a lesson."  
  
    Brittany panicked. "I- I'm sorry, Commander! I didn't mean it... I didn't know they were anyone's!"  
  
    "Relax, Miss Voxen. You're not in trouble," Bogo towered over her, his hands behind his back. It sure  _felt_ like she was. "Allow me to tell you the difference between a typical empowered mammal and an Enforcer."  
  
    "Uh, okay..."  
  
    "You took those candies because no one was there to stop you, no one to tell you it was wrong," Bogo started. "Because it was easy to do. Your typical empowered mammal sees things in terms of what they can accomplish with their powers, and how it will serve them. But an Enforcer must use their powers for the good of others, and be willing to listen to their higher-ups, even if they don't believe them to be more powerful than they are."  
  
    "...I um... I understand," Brittany nodded. "But- but it was just candy... and I won't do it again."  
  
    "Ah, that's the thing," Bogo held one of his hooved fingers up. "Some mammals are so powerful that accomplishing anything for them may as well be like swiping unguarded candy. Whether that goal be to break into a bank or to kill someone they hate. The ease with which they could do those things, combined with the lack of anyone to hold them to account, that breeds villainy. That is why there are Enforcers. Mammals willing to give of themselves to bring those villains to justice. I'd have you reflect on that, and ask yourself if you truly wish to become an Enforcer."  
  
    "But I'm not really powerful; I can't even control my own fire," Brittany pouted.  
  
    "Regardless of how powerful one may or may not be, the principles of being an Enforcer are the same," Bogo said. "Do you understand?"  
  
    "Yes sir," Brittany's head hung down. "Sorry, sir."  
  
    "And in the future, leave my candy alone," Bogo said, and Brittany cringed, but she thought she saw him smirking slightly.  
  


* * *

  
    The sun was setting over the ZED complex, and Brittany felt rather listless. She walked over to the fountain containing Theodore Standler's statue and bat at the water.  
  
    "Blah."  
  
    She squinted as the ripples seemed to spread in an usual way, as if something was in the water, but it looked clear. There was almost a shape of a mammal in the waves.  
  
    "...Skye, are you in there...?" Brittany blinked.  
  
    "Tah-da!" Skye's astral projection burst from the water with a flourish. She couldn't actually interact with the water, so there was no splash. "Way to find me, Bree! I thought no one was gonna find me all day, and I'd have to choose a different hiding place." Skye noticed Brittany looked a little glum. "What's wrong, Bree?"  
  
    "I'm just kinda discouraged..." Brittany sighed, "I dunno if I have what it takes to be an Enforcer."  
  
    "Ooh, I wouldn't rush down _that_ road," Skye squinted, growing a weak, toothy smile. "I was an Enforcer once, and look what happened to _me_!" She indicated her intangible form.  
  
    "...What  _did_ happen to you?" Brittany asked, sitting on the outer edge of the fountain, draping her tail onto her lap so it wouldn't get wet. "I don't think you've ever told me."  
  
    "Well, I don't think Commander Bogo would appreciate if I said too much about that," Skye said, floating in front of Brittany.  
  
    "Since when did you respect 'Bobo'?" Brittany gave her a playful sneer.  
  
    "Oh, I found that respect a year or so ago," Skye rolled her eyes. "...I think he feels partially responsible for what happened to me."  
  
    "...You can't talk about it at all?" Brittany's brow raised up.  
  
    "Well, in broad terms..." Skye twisted her muzzle, then shook her head. "Let's just say I trusted someone a bit too much. I let them know too much about me. And when they wanted something from me that I wouldn't give them, they hurt me very badly."  
  
    "That's awful... so they're a villain..." Brittany surmised with a frown.  
  
    "I didn't think so at first, but yes, pretty much," Skye shrugged. "There's no point dwelling on it. What happened happened, and its helped teach everyone some lessons. Even if they were hard to learn."  
  
    "Why was it Commander Bogo's fault?" Brittany was curious.  
  
    "Sorry, kiddo," Skye gave her an apologetic grin, "it wouldn't be fair to him to tell you." She looked out on the sunset, pointing at it to change the subject. "Nice sunset, huh? Like the sky's on fire. Get it? I'm the Skye, and you're the fire, huh? Huh?" She made an elbowing motion at Brittany, though said elbow passed right through her side.  
  
    "If only I was as good at putting out fire as starting it," Brittany mumbled.   
  
    "Ohh... don't get that pouty face, Bree," Skye folded her arms, leaning over. "You've still got a lot of growing to do. Who knows what kind of power spike you could get at puberty? Or even later than that!"  
  
    "I should go in and get dinner," Brittany said, rubbing her stomach. "Getting hungry."  
  
    "Mammal alive, I miss eating," Skye half-smiled. "I'd  _love_ to sink my fangs into a spicy chicken sandwich." She "ate" an invisible sandwich with her paws.  
  
    "Oh, I keep forgetting you can't eat," the young fox giggled nervously.  
  
    "Or smell, or feel..." Skye shrugged. "But oh well, you make do with what you have! It's still fun to play hide-and-seek with you guys. Sometimes I even get to do reconnaissance missions! Though I can't get  _too_ far from my body..."  
  
    "I hope you get better soon, Skye," Brittany smiled sadly.  
  
    "I do too, Bree," Skye shrugged. "But sometimes, hope's not enough, and we just have to deal with the hand we were dealt."  
  
    Brittany's smile wobbled a bit, but she nodded, and headed in for dinner.   
  
    The little fox didn't think she'd been dealt all her cards yet, but she was hoping for a good hand for both her and Skye.


	4. Controlled Burn

    Three more years passed.  
  
    Brittany turned her phone over in her paws as she looked at the last message from her parents. It said "Happy Birthday!" and had some confetti emojis. That was seven days ago, and they hadn't made time to show up in quite awhile. The vixen was now fifteen, and she began to feel more and more distant from her parents.  
  
    She sighed, scanning around her room. It had gone quite some way in six years, transforming from a barren, sterile and mostly white room to a colorful pastel-yellow decorated room, with posters of a couple of her favorite bands. She was beginning to feel like her small mountain of bird plushies was a bit childish, but she kept them anyway. Perhaps just to remind her what kind of life she used to have.  
  
    Brittany couldn't be too sad, though. She had a lot of friends at the ZED, and she'd even managed to make friends with Judy Hopps, despite her initial misgivings with the rising star bunny. The fox still found Fangmeyer a better role model, but there was no doubting Judy's drive, spirit, and raw power. It seemed funny to her that when a mission required finesse, they would send larger animals, but raw destructive power? It was all in that bunny's kicks. She was a bit of a hotshot as she never seemed to fail a mission, but there was something about her bubbly energy that was infectious.  
  
    Though ZED students weren't required to wear uniforms, Brittany usually liked to wear some kind of ZED shirt while wandering around the complex, as she had grown fond of the place.  
  
    Brittany found herself heading over to the west wing of the main building, now freshly repaired. So freshly, in fact, that Commander Bogo was speaking to a contractor at that very moment.  
  
    "Electric, plumbing, lighting, everything seems good, Commander," the beaver contractor said as he looked over his notes. "Everything's clean and A-OK."  
  
    "Very good," Bogo nodded. "Thank you for your work."  
  
    "Gotta say, Commander," the beaver grinned, tilting up his hard hat. "It's been a real experience for me an' the guys to see just the- the  _scope_ of this facility. It looks amazing!"  
  
    "Yes, well," Bogo chuckled and gave a polite smile, "do remember that non-disclosure agreement you all signed. This is a government facility, after all."  
  
    "Oh, for sure!" The beaver suddenly looked nervous. "Still, great stuff! Catch ya later!"  
  
    As the beaver walked off, Commander Bogo followed his movement, and ended up looking at Brittany.  
  
    "Ah, hello, Brittany," Bogo's smile became warmer. "You're a tricky fox to find at times."  
  
    "Huh? I'm standing right here," Brittany narrowed her brow. "We don't have class today."  
  
    "I was merely referring to your wanderlust. Skippel's asked for you again," Bogo said. "Shall we?" He swept his arm to indicate the elevator.  
  
    "Oh, neat!" Brittany lit up and followed him down to the training facility, her brown eyes sparkling.  
  
    " _There_ you are," Karen said, pushing away from a computer and rushing over to open a case. "Here she is, the wand mark two!" Karen placed an unimpressive-looking metal cylinder in Brittany's paw.  
  
    "Ooh..." the fox held it up. "What sort of features does this one have?"  
  
    "Interchangeable compound supply," Karen said proudly, "also, if you press that button on the side, it extends!"  
  
    Karen did this, and the wand extended to roughly three feet in length. "Whoa... more like a  _staff_ now."  
  
    "Yeah, so you could hold a fire more safely away from you," Karen explained. "Or, I dunno, duel with the staff with the tip lit? Maybe mark three should have an auxiliary compound port on the reverse side..."  
  
    "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Skippel," Bogo said, folding his arms, though he was grinning. "Why don't you put the new wand through its paces, Brittany?"  
  
    "All right!" Brittany nodded and rushed into the room. She steadied herself, holding the wand out with one hand. "You ready?"  
  
    "And waiting, go," Bogo said over the speaker.  
  
    With barely a thought of encouragement, the tip lit on fire, and then grew to a respectable size.  
  
    "Okay, do your fireball!" Karen encouraged.  
  
    Brittany gestured forward with the wand and the flame on the tip sped out into the wall. It dissipated into embers, then finally gave out.  
  
    "Do that 'flamethrower' move," Karen said next.  
  
    Brittany re-ignited the tip and swept the wand to the side, spraying fire as it went.  
  
    "Try extending it with the tip ignited," Karen said, "I don't have much data on that."  
  
    Brittany did so, and found the resulting "staff" easier to hold in two hands. She poked it forward a few times as if it was a spear, making it burst with fire as she played around with it. It was exciting, and the fire was burning brighter with each thrust.  
  
    She grabbed the staff with both hands and swung, sending the fire on it out in a spiraling burst. Then, she retracted the staff back into a wand and summoned the fire back to her, catching it on the tip of the wand.  
  
    "Huh, getting fancy there," Karen remarked. "Good, that's good data."  
  
    Brittany bowed, holding the paws way out so she didn't endanger herself with the fire.  
  
    "Now Brittany, put the fire out," Bogo said over the speaker calmly.  
  
    The vixen let out a terse gasp, but nodded. She tried to get her breathing under control and focused on the fire, which was burning powerfully at the end of the wand. She'd begun to understand how the fire reacted to her emotions, and this only intensified after puberty took hold. When she was excited or panicked, the fire would come easier. But if she was calm and placid, the fire didn't want to react at all. By focusing on a feeling of peace, the fire shrank, and eventually vanished.  
  
    "Ha...! Did it!" Brittany held the wand up in excitement, and the fire immediately poofed back onto the tip. "No no, wait! Behave, you." Brittany stared at the fire with cold sternness, and it went out again. She was a little more modest with her next smile, waving the wand.  
  
    "Excellent, Brittany, that's very good," Bogo said, his voice a bit more encouraging than usual. "In our next sessions, we'll-" Bogo was cut off and stopped talking.  
  
    The swelling pride Brittany felt was replaced by confusion as he appeared to be talking to someone else in a white coat. Brittany stood on her tip toes to try to see what was going on. The mammal consulting with him appeared to be Doctor Madge Badger, the ZED's head doctor. Apprehension and fear came over Brittany, especially as Bogo abruptly headed to the elevator.  
  
    "Um, so hey, why don't you come on back, Brittany?" Karen said into the microphone.  
  
    Brittany went through the heavy shutters leading to the testing chamber and returned the wand.  
      
    "What's going on? Was I okay?" Brittany asked with trepidation.  
  
    "Oh yeah, you were great," Karen said, nodding. "And it looks like the mark two held up great too. But something came up that required Bogo's attention."  
  
    "What?" Brittany's eyes flickered to the elevator.  
  
    "I'm not sure if it's my place to say but..." Karen took a shallow breath before continuing. "It seems that Skye is awake."  
  
    The teenage fox gasped shrilly.  
  


* * *

  
    Brittany paced in front of the door that she knew led to Skye's room. She'd never once been admitted in, and had been stopped the one time she did try. She could hear indistinct speech coming from the room, but barely heard Skye's voice at all. The young fox's heart thumped faster and faster as she waited, almost wanting to press herself against the door to hear more clearly.  
  
    She knew that she'd never seen Skye before the "incident", but she had seen a few pictures before then. In the shots, Skye looked joyous and a bit of a prankster, as she often was in her spectral form. On top of everything else, she had leucism, causing her fur to look washed out and off-white. She did have lovely blue eyes, though. Brittany yearned to say hi to her in person.  
  
    Eventually, the door opened, and Commander Bogo came out with a distant, troubled look on his face. He quickly noticed Brittany standing there and shut the door firmly, clearing his throat.  
  
    "Skye's awake?" Brittany asked hopefully. "How is she?"  
  
    Bogo looked away from Brittany and sighed heavily. "She won't be accepting visitors for some time."  
  
    "O-oh? Why not?" Brittany started to follow Bogo's movement as he walked down the hall. "Do you think she-"  
  
    "Miss Voxen," Bogo looked at her sidelong with a stern face. "Not now. I have things to do."  
  
    Brittany just stared down the hall as Bogo walked off.  
  
    That evening, Brittany couldn't sleep. She tossed and flailed around in her bed, wondering if she'd lost the ability to talk to one of her best friends. It was weird to think of a much older fox "ghost" as a good friend, but she did often talk to her and confide in her. It was even Skye who led Brittany to an epiphany about her powers; that "relaxing" might be the key to control.  
  
    Brittany launched out of her bed and walked into the courtyard near the fountain. To her surprise, she saw Skye's astral projection there already, staring at the starry night sky.  
  
    "Skye...!" Brittany breathed out, rushing over to her. "You're here!"  
  
    "Oh, hey Brittany," Skye smiled sadly at her.  
  
    "I heard y-you woke up...?" Brittany mumbled, not sure what to think.  
  
    "I did," Skye chuckled, "but now I'm asleep again."  
  
    "Are you okay?" Brittany felt near panic. "What's going on?"  
  
    "...Waking up was like going into a prison," Skye frowned. "I have nearly no control over my body at the moment. I have to- I'll have to 're-learn' a lot of things."  
  
    Brittany gasped. "No... that's horrible!"  
  
    "It's almost a little funny," Skye said distantly, looking off into the moon. "I can actually fly better than I can move naturally. Still, don't have full control of that either, so they have to buckle me down to my bed."  
  
    The younger fox felt like crying, and she looked it, hiccuping a bit.  
  
    "Oh, don't feel too bad for me, Bree," Skye said, floating around Brittany. "Sleep is a nice release for me, and I can make my own dreams with my astral projection. And heck, I can still talk to you and play hide and seek!"  
  
    "...I hope I get to see you in the fur soon, Skye," Brittany sniffed, half-smiling.  
  
    "Maybe someday, Bree," Skye shrugged. "Until then, I'll just make the best of what I have."  
  


* * *

  
    "Ha!"  
  
    Brittany peeked into the command room at the sound of a thrilling battle taking place. From the tone of the voice, Judy Hopps was having a blast fighting someone, as usual.  
  
    "Jeez, rabbit! Ease up, will ya!?" An unfamiliar voice wailed.  
  
    As the door was ajar, the teenage fox skulked into the command room to get a better look, but was spotted almost instantly by Commander Bogo.  
  
    "Brittany," he grumbled, "what have I said about your infiltrating of the command room?"  
  
    "To not do it so much?" Brittany grinned widely with all her teeth. "I haven't done it in a year! C'mon, can I watch, please?"  
  
    "Keep quiet," Bogo huffed in a conceding tone, and Brittany took a seat at an unoccupied console. She stared up at the projection conjured by Enforcer McHorn.  
  
    "Hyah!" Judy's voice exulted, and she kicked out with her foot, creating a shockwave in front of her.  
  
    "Yeeeesh!" A fidgety weasel in her sights shrieked as he leaped backward to avoid the impact.  
  
    "Take it easy, Hopps!" Bogo instructed sternly into his headset. "This is the first time you've fought an empowered below your size. A direct kick might kill him!"  
  
    The viewpoint nodded as the bunny enforcer took this in, then she started bouncing around defensively, using her shockwaves to gain height.  
  
    "C'mon, it was just one bank!" The weasel shouted. "I know you ZED louts have less freakishly overpowered guys on call!"  
  
    "Yeah, but most of 'em were at a ceremony earlier today," Judy said, aiming a weaker kick at him. "I was the first to respond, so you're stuck with me!"  
  
    "Yaagh!" The weasel dove out of the way and rolled onto a couple of small soda cans.  
  
    "Weaselton's going for metallic objects!" Bogo advised. "Watch out for his galvanization!"  
  
    "Take this, copper!" Weaselton shouted, grabbing the cans in both hands, where they sparkled with electricity. He tossed both at Judy.  
  
    "Whoa...!" Judy leaped forward with her force kicks to avoid the projectiles, flipping several times in midair before landing.  
  
    "Urp," Higgins put a hand to his bulbous hippo muzzle. "Watching Hopps move like that makes me sick..."  
  
    Weaselton scrambled onto a midsize parked car, where he thrust both hands onto the vehicle, sending bolts of electricity coursing across it.  
  
    "Aaack...!" Judy nearly rushed straight into the car, but stopped herself.  
  
    "Haha! How you gonna get me now, cottontail!?" Weaselton laughed maniacally. "It'll be quite shocking if you take another step towards me!"  
  
    Judy's eyes half-lidded, which looked quite unusual from the first-person perspective.  
  
    "Hopps, be careful..." Bogo demanded.  
  
    Judy took a light jump in the air, seeming to hang before whipping her foot forward at the air right in front of Weselton. With a soft "pffffft", a small shockwave blew him off the car's hood and sent him rolling across the street.  
  
    "Yaaack!" Weaselton rolled around, and Judy pounced, getting his hands behind his back with a plastic zip-tie.  
  
    "Expertly done, Hopps," Bogo complimented. "Take him to Grizzoli for processing."  
  
    "Sure thing, Chief!"  
  
    "That's _Commander_ ," Bogo corrected, to a little chuckle from Judy.  
  
    "Looks like this weasel is _grounded_ ," Judy proclaimed proudly, starting to move Weaselton.  
  
    "Ugh..." most of the command room groaned at the joke, seemingly subject to Judy's bad humor several times before, but Brittany was into it, her tail wagging a bit.  
  
    "Now, you're gonna pay for making me miss most of that ceremony, mister!" Judy started carrying the bound weasel away.  
  
    "He's not in range of anything metallic, and Hopps isn't dumb enough to let him into range," Bogo said. "You can cut the feed."  
  
    "Daniel's graduation..." Brittany shook her head at the mentioned ceremony, "it's so weird. He's so lively and stuff, I thought he'd make a great Enforcer..."  
  
    "You and me both, kit," Higgins harrumphed. "Can't imagine why he didn't enlist."  
  
    "Then you have little imagination," Commander Bogo pushed up from his chair, going to a console to record some data.  
  
    Brittany wandered over to him and looked up at him. "What do you mean, Commander?"  
  
    "Daniel's power is an obstacle to his everyday life," Bogo explained. "His main goal in attending the ZED's classes was to get his power under control, and with the power limiters that Skippel recently perfected, he has that chance."  
  
    "But he seemed so gung-ho about life..." Brittany seemed confused. "And he was always well-behaved!"  
  
    "It's true that he would have made a great Enforcer," Bogo nodded. "But I respect his choice to live a normal life, free of the burden of using his powers in the service of others."  
  
    Brittany nodded vacantly in return then left the command room of her own accord. She'd never thought of  _not_ being an Enforcer, even as the danger in the profession seemed to be getting more and more apparent to her.  
  


* * *

  
    That evening, just before sundown, Brittany was wandering around the outskirts of the ZED complex. A high-tech fence surrounded the facility. It was easy enough to get over with a lofty jump, but the one time Brittany had managed it, she was scolded relentlessly by Commander Bogo. Apparently, the fence had a network of sensors that tripped when moved across or detecting empowered energies. It was a kind of early-warning system.  
  
    Looking back, the teenage fox saw a cyan flicker in an alcove on the roof level of one of the buildings. Feeling adventurous and particularly fit that day, she decided to climb up and look in the alcove. As she had wondered, her curiosity was rewarded by finding Skye's astral projection.  
  
    "Hey, Skye," Brittany greeted, her tail whipping.  
  
    "Bree, you found me!" Skye smiled, "sitting" by her in the alcove. "'Bout time! Wondered if anyone was gonna find my spot today."  
  
    "You're already asleep?" Brittany blinked, kicking her feet. "Seems a bit early."  
  
    "Yeah, well..." Skye shrugged. "Just the nature of things. I need a lot of rest, and recovery's gonna be slow. Real slow."  
  
    "Ugh..." Brittany let loose a long, disappointed breath. "...How do you stay so cheery?"  
  
    "Mostly 'cause I have friends like you to play around with," Skye closed her eyes with a pleased expression. "Speaking of, I have one more hiding place in mind today. Wanna try to find me?"  
  
    "Is it just gonna be the fountain again?" Brittany sucked her teeth.  
  
    "No... you check that place first almost every day," Skye rolled her eyes, "anyway, see if you can find me!" The phantom fox phased through the building to head to her next destination. Brittany was about to stand up to follow her, but she stopped upon seeing Commander Bogo walking about in a semi-dressed-down state.  
  
    Though her vision wasn't too acute yet, as night had yet to completely fall, Commander Bogo looked somber as he wandered around the outer grounds. Brittany tried to keep hidden in the alcove, wondering what he was doing and if she could help.  
  
    The moment she decided to move, she saw a green flash and a trail of kicked-up dust. Then, instantly, there was another red fox in front of Bogo, dressed in a green and black tight-fitting suit. He was an adult, about in his early thirties, Brittany guessed.  
  
    "Still too slow," the fox folded his arms and wagged his head. "Your security systems  _still_ can't register me before I'm already in, Chief?"  
  
    "Nick Wilde," Bogo's fists tightened, and he glared down at the impudent-looking fox before him. Brittany had just the right view to look at them both talking, and she remained flat against the floor of the alcove.  
  
    "Hey, you know I prefer 'Hustler'," Nick smirked.  
  
    "And I prefer 'Commander Bogo', but it looks like we have to take what we can get," Bogo said. "You have some nerve coming here again."  
  
    "I just think it's funny that the supposedly most dedicated collection of 'superheroes' in this city, and really, the _world_ , can't detect the speed of one measly little fox..." Nick chuckled.  
  
    "You'd best watch yourself, Wilde," Bogo pointed down at the fox sharply. "I have someone who can best you."  
  
    "Oh, is that so?" Nick barked out a high-pitched, scoffing laugh, running rings around Bogo, just to show that he could. "Sounds like a bunch of bluster to me."  
  
    "That's your area of expertise, I'm afraid," Bogo said darkly.  
  
    "Ooh, guilty as charged," Nick held his arms out wide. "But when you're this fast, no cage can hold you."  
  
    "You consider this place a cage?" Bogo shot back.  
  
    "Well, yeah, of course," Nick puffed air through his nose. "Who'd want to have to stay in a place like this and take orders from a crusty, grumpy buffalo?" Brittany tried not to giggle. She hadn't really thought of the place as a "prison" or anything. Not since about a year or three into it, she figured. It actually did feel like a home to her, she reckoned.  
  
    "I suppose when you're fast enough to  _take_ anything you want, you feel as though rules don't apply to you," Bogo said acidly.  
  
    "Harsh," Nick held his paws behind his head. "So, are you going to beg for me to join your little club again?"  
  
    "Not anymore," Bogo said, folding his massive arms firmly. "I know what you've been up to, and if you don't relent soon, I will have my best Enforcer fight you at every turn."  
      
    "What, that pussycat?" Nick threw both arms out in front of him. "She'd never be able to summon enough wind to even  _impede_ me."  
  
    "Not her," Bogo clarified, "I have another."  
  
    "Ooh, _scary_ ," Nick clearly didn't seem impressed by his tone. "And what precisely have I been up to? Even if I was, how'd you make me pay for it?"  
  
    "Shall I tell you what  _my_ special power is, Wilde?" Bogo's irises and pupils vanished.  
  
    "Uh..." Nick looked about to bolt, getting into a ready stance. Brittany gasped. She didn't know Commander Bogo  _was_ empowered, and was thrilled to learn what he could do.  
  
    "I can sense and extrapolate the potential of any empowered mammal," Commander Bogo said, "I know precisely what any empowered mammal is or isn't capable of."  
  
    "Oh," Nick relaxed a little. "Pff, what kind of lame power is that?"  
  
    "A fine power for a leader," Bogo continued, "you feel like you're invincible because of your accelerated healing abilities."  
  
    Nick's brow fell. Brittany figured he must not have revealed that power to anyone else.  
  
    "I know the limits of those abilities," Bogo went on, taking a step toward Nick, then another, ending up standing over him. "I know that using such power draws an immense amount of your 'speed energy', that you must develop to fuel your other speed-based powers."  
  
    "Well then, do you also know I'm super-aware of all of that and very careful to conserve my energy?" Nick shrugged haughtily. "I am a fox after all, and very clever besides."  
  
    "Your speed has one other weakness," Bogo held a finger up. "You can move faster than you can react. So, if someone launches an attack at the same instant you've chosen to move to avoid another one, you could be caught by it."  
  
    "Is this supposed to intimidate me?" Nick asked, though he sounded a bit unsteady.  
  
    "I'd once hoped to have you on our side, to leverage your abilities for the benefit of others," Bogo said. "But not after what you've been doing."  
  
    "Hey, I just steal a little..." Nick grit his teeth, his brow furrowing. "Gotta steal to eat, gotta eat to live, you know the drill."  
  
    "Like many, you underestimate my abilities," Bogo's pupils were still absent. "With my empowered sight, I can see empowered mammals for miles and miles, as long as I'm looking in their general direction. I'm aware of each presence in the city. Now... I have seen presences around you before, and then... they go dark."  
  
    Nick's face grew blank, and the last rays of the sunset seemed to drift away. Brittany swallowed hard, her blood running cold despite her pounding heart.  
  
    "You're a murderer," Bogo clarified, his pupils returning and his brow lowering dangerously.  
  
    "Hey, you don't know what I've been through," Nick placed his hands on his chest. "Those guys... they were bad guys.  _Real_ bad guys... the kind that- I've never taken out anyone that didn't _deserve_ it."  
  
    "So you say," Bogo's frown was stony, "but who on earth are you to make that judgement?"  
  
    "I'm just- I clean up the trash of the city," Nick looked unrepentant. "I love Zootopia, and a lot of mammals would do it and its people harm."  
  
    "You think yourself some sort of vigilante...?" Bogo's voice seethed with restrained fury. "There is a right way and a wrong way to go about any task."  
  
    "Listen, Chief," Nick sneered. "Where do you get off telling me what to do? You're not my boss. In fact, why've you even revealed you know so much about me? What's stopping me from killing you right now?"  
  
    Brittany felt a spike of panic, looking around for something she might set on fire to throw at the grim-looking fox.  
  
    "Because if you wanted to, you would have already," Bogo said, loosening up a little. "Because very little has stopped you from doing anything you wish, and you still doubt the ZED will ever be a threat to you. Even if you think what you're doing is just, people are fallible and can make mistakes. If you fall off that slippery slope and into true villainy, I want you to know that you _will_ be held to account. Dossiers on you exist, and my top Enforcer has heard  _all_ about you, so if anything happens to me..."  
  
    "Okay, okay, I get it," Nick took a step back, his hands up. "Doesn't mean I'm going to join this little Junior Ranger Scout operation."  
  
    "Nor are you invited," Bogo put his hands behind his back. "Which is a shame, because I believe your powers could be a great benefit to mammalkind."  
  
    There was a silence as the two mammals looked each other down uneasily.  
  
    "Heh... I can't believe I fell for this," Nick said unsteadily, "if your powers were so great, you would have known there was a little vixen spying on this whole thing. Doubt you wanted  _her_ to know all that." He pointed vaguely in Brittany's direction  
  
    "...What?" Bogo turned his head to where Brittany was hiding and his pupils vanished momentarily.  
  
    "Heh! Later, Chief!" Nick was gone in the next instant, leaving a green flash and a dust trail.  
  
    "Brittany Voxen...!"  
      
    Brittany uneasily got down from her hiding place and went to confront Commander Bogo.  
  
    "You heard all that?" Bogo looked somewhere between confused and angry.  
  
    "Uh huh," Brittany nodded, "was that...?"  
  
    "Never mind who he is," Bogo said, "if you ever see him, report to me immediately, through your phone or by direct ZED link or anything else. He is dangerous and not to be trusted."  
  
    "Is that true what you said about your power?" Brittany wondered. "That you can see the true potential of anyone?"  
  
    Bogo blinked, his irises and pupils coming back. "Er, yes, that is indeed true."  
  
    "So do you know what my potential is?" Brittany looked up at him hopefully. "Am I strong enough to become an Enforcer?"  
  
    Bogo didn't respond, looking away.  
  
    "...What? What is it?" Brittany asked, arms wide. "Am I, or not?"  
  
    "...Your power..." Bogo sighed. "...Is vast. Far greater than you know."  
  
    "Really? So I  _could_ become an Enforcer?" Brittany's eyes sparkled.  
  
    "Your  _power_ was never in question to me," Bogo frowned, "merely your mastery over it. Thankfully it has improved with your age, hopefully it will continue in that direction."  
  
    "Why do you have to be so vague...?" Brittany's lip curled up. "How hot can I get my fire? What else can I do with it?"  
  
    "Brittany..." Bogo suddenly looked sorrowful, and he actually sat down on the ground, about eye-level with the teenage fox. "Let me tell you a brief story about my powers."  
  
    "Um, okay?" She nodded once.  
  
    "I was young and foolish once, even as the head of this facility," Bogo sighed. "I was eager to help everyone draw out their full potential, and reveal what could be done with their powers."  
  
    "Yeah...? That sounds good!"  
  
    "...But evil wears many disguises, Brittany," Bogo frowned. "Not only that, when some people learn the true potential of their abilities... they realize what they can accomplish, and how little might stand in their way."  
  
    Brittany looked hurt. "Commander, I would never do anything like that-"  
  
    "Is exactly what I heard from one of my first Enforcers, Brittany," Bogo interrupted with a frown, more sorrowful than angry. "But he did. When no one can hold you to account, many start to take a little bit here, a little there, feeling one thing or another isn't so bad. Like that blasted fox. But some people get so angry when they can't have one specific thing that they take a huge turn toward villainy."  
  
    The fox was quiet. She wondered if he was talking about what happened to the newly-repaired West Wing.  
  
    "Brittany..." Bogo sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "it wouldn't be prudent of me to reveal to you your full potential. You're still very young. Not only that, what if I told you of your potential then eventually made the decision that you were  _not_ fit to join the Enforcers? What then? What would you do?"  
  
    "I... I'd be very sad," Brittany frowned, "I- but... I could just go home, right?"  
  
    "You  _could_ do that, yes, you  _could_ , but _would_ you?" Bogo released his grip and stood up. "...I will continue to teach you in your abilities as I see fit... as the leader of the ZED. We will see what happens as you conclude the training program."  
  
    Brittany found herself without words. Bogo began to walk off, looking behind himself sidelong at the fox.  
  
    "Brittany, you have massive potential... but you will just have to trust me that it will take time to develop safely. If you have that trust in me, then we can continue working together. Possibly even after the program concludes when you are eighteen. Now, come inside... as you've seen, these fences can't fully protect us from all the dangers in the world."  
  
    The fox nodded silently and obeyed, trailing Bogo by a good bit. She'd never felt so much self doubt about if she wanted to be an Enforcer or not, and learning Bogo's abilities had put a new question in her heart. It was a question joined with a nameless fear.  
  
    Just how powerful  _was_ she...?


	5. Dancing Embers

    Brittany sat alone in the main cafeteria of the ZED. This was the one used by most Enforcers, plus she really liked the food they served there. The head chef was a raccoon named Marvin. Brittany never bothered to ask him if he had any sort of power, but if he said it had to do with super-cooking, she would have believed him. He did fish and shrimp dishes so well, and the shrimp cream pasta was her big favorite.  
  
    As she was happily slurping some noodles from this dish, Judy Hopps entered the cafeteria, followed by a mildly annoyed-looking Commander Bogo.  
  
    "Hopps, you know you have to stay in the infirmary until you're fully cleared," Commander Bogo scolded, several steps behind her.  
  
    "I'm fine, Commander," Judy said, and she certainly looked it, striding forward with purpose. "Just let me get something to eat and then we can review my battle footage. You did save it, right?"  
  
    "Hopps...!" Commander Bogo slapped his face and let his hand slough off. "There's no rush. I'm not gunning to send you out again as soon as possible."  
  
    Judy turned to him, looking annoyed. "Sir! With all due respect-"  
  
    "Which is almost always followed by something disrespectful," Bogo grumbled.  
  
    "This is my first defeat, sir," Judy continued, "I want to know where I went wrong so it doesn't happen again!"  
  
    "And we'll get to that...!" Bogo retorted. "But _not today_. You take the rest of the day off, do you hear me? No battle footage reviewing, no exertion, no training. After you eat, you go  _back_ to Doctor Badger and wait for her full report. Understand?"  
  
    Judy sighed in annoyed reluctance. "Yes, sir."  
  
    "Good," Bogo said, then left the cafeteria with a snort.  
  
    Judy came by Brittany's table after collecting a hearty tomato soup and bread, and sat down next to the younger fox. Brittany might have been more reserved about this, but she was intensely curious what had happened.  
  
    "Heya, Brittany," Judy waved before taking her first sip of soup. "Ow! Hot... heh, guess I should have blown on it. Guess we'll have to add 'minor burns' to the list there!" She made a little tally mark in the air.  
  
    "You got defeated...?" Brittany sounded disappointed. Judy seemed to be in a league of her own, ability-wise.  
  
    "Yeah..." Judy sighed, her eyes half-closing. "By that 'Hustler' character, Nick Wilde."  
  
    "Oh!" Brittany flinched, taking a small bite of her meal. "From what I hear he's uh... really dangerous."  
  
    "He's a big red jerk is what he is," Judy took a violent slashing bite out of her bread. "I thought I had him, then he finished the battle and left me on the ground. It didn't hurt too bad because of my impact resistance, but I have to wonder if he was just toying with me."  
  
    "He didn't _kill_ you...?" Brittany asked warily. "I heard he's killed a few empowered mammals."  
  
    "No, I even asked him why he didn't, but he just shrugged and gave me this insufferable smirk," Judy rested her paw on the table, leaning on it heavily.  
  
    "What, does he think you're not worth the effort?" Brittany scoffed.  
  
    "Oooo, he better not," Judy looked especially cross. "'Cause next time, I'm _definitely_ gonna beat him."  
  
    "I hope you can," the fox nodded. "He seems scary."  
  
    "Eh, he's not that bad," Judy batted her paw. "Foxes are no big deal, no offense."  
  
    "Um, okay," Brittany huffed with a small smile.  
  
    "Bogo told me a ton of his weaknesses before the fight," Judy said. "Something about how he has to store up speed energy by crouching after moving at normal speed... then he can only use super speed bursts for a little while. I don't even know how Bogo had so much info on Nick; I'd never even heard of the guy before!"  
  
    Brittany decided not to reveal the extent of Bogo's power, in case he didn't want it spread. "I... well, if Bogo thinks you should rest before you take him on again..."  
  
    "Yeah yeah," Judy rolled her eyes.  
  
    "What did he even do?"  
  
    "He pick-pocketed a hundred random mammals in under a minute, just because he could, I guess," Judy sighed.  
  
    The TV in the cafeteria was set to the Zootopia News Network, which just came off of a commercial.  
  
    "We've received reports about an attempted string of one hundred thefts by the notorious super-criminal 'the Hustler'," one of the anchors, a female snow leopard, said.  
  
    "That's right, the famed ZED Enforcer Judy Hopps was quick to respond to the scene, but she was apparently defeated," her co-anchor, a male moose, added.  
  
    "Ugh, sweet cheese n'- just _rub it in_ , why don't ya?" Judy buried her head in her hands.  
  
    "Despite this, the Hustler apparently returned all of the stolen goods to their rightful owners in another burst of speed," the snow leopard went on.  
  
    "We cannot speculate on the Hustler's motives, and the ZED has declined to comment," the moose said. "More as it develops." The show cut to commercial.  
  
    "Why that... that no-good _scoundrel_!" Judy balled her fists, slamming the table with both.  
  
    "Weird, why would he _reverse_ his crime...?" Brittany wondered aloud. "Was he just-"  
  
    "Just toying with us? Trying to provoke us!?" Judy raved. "That's what it's seeming like!" The bunny set upon grumpily eating her food, and Brittany quietly followed suit.  
  
    The two were accosted by one of the older students of the ZED, in his final year of school. His name was Kain; he was a quokka, a rather small brown marsupial. They tended to look naturally cheerful, but on him, it just came across as unsettling. He liked to wear wraps over his eyes and a dark hooded cloak. He could actually see, and hear for that matter, but he used these methods to dull his senses for his own super power. He had "super scent", and could tell where just about anyone was by scent alone, and it was especially powerful when it came to smelling empowered mammals. Brittany had caught Commander Bogo giving him an odd piece of metal to smell on a few occasions, so she wondered if Kain's super scent was even more powerful or wide-ranged than Bogo's own empowered sight.  
  
    Kain walked forward, tapping around with a short staff to aid his walking. Brittany always thought he looked out of place, like he was supposed to be a sage or wizard.  
  
    "Ah, hello," Kain sniffed at the air to pick up the scent of the two females. "It seems to be... the Bird With Differing Wings and the Sky Bounder."  
  
    Brittany felt mildly uncomfortable. Kain also never liked to refer to anyone by their given name.  
  
    "Why do you always call me that?" Brittany felt herself asking. "What does that mean?"  
  
    "It's merely what you smell like," Kain smiled. Even compared to other quokkas, his smile seemed ingratiating. " _You_ smell as though you've been in battle, Sky Bounder."  
  
    "Yeah, that's accurate," Judy nodded. "I lost, but I'm still alive, so that's something."  
  
    "Bogo had you sniffing any metal shards lately?" Brittany snapped. She didn't know why she felt like lashing out at him, but something about him made her uneasy.  
  
    "Ah, the Farseeker, and yes, just now in fact," Kain nodded with a grin, but then actually frowned. "The scent of the Crushing Pall. Still very far off, that one."  
  
    "Who's the 'Crushing Pall'?" Brittany asked.  
  
    "I have no idea, that is the name of the scent that my nose tells me, that's all," Kain replied. "The smell... I faintly smell the Crushing Pall from the West Wing, as well..." His mouth twisted this way and that. "Which reminds me, is the Nine-Tails with you now?"  
  
    "Skye? No," Brittany puffed. "She doesn't like being in the cafeteria; says she has to eat simple foods. Guess you can't smell her, huh?"  
  
    "The Nine-Tail's spirit has no smell," Kain nodded. "Ah well, good day!"  
  
    " _So_ weird..." Brittany drew her arms closer to herself, bunching up her shoulders.  
  
    "Eh, I've seen weirder," Judy shrugged. "What do you think his name for your smell means?"  
  
    "I dunno, he can smell that I have a lot of bird plushies?" Brittany shrugged, distracted. "I haven't given it much thought."  
  
    "Mine's easy enough, I guess," Judy smiled, finishing her food. "Welp, guess I better go listen to the Chief and get checked up so he doesn't yell at me again."  
  
    "See ya later, Judy," Brittany waved a bit, dragging her heels with her own meal.  
  
    Bird With Differing Wings. The heck  _did_ that mean, anyway...?  
  


* * *

  
    A few days later, Brittany was heading to her room from class, but slowed her pace when she overheard a pleasant female voice coming from further down the hall. It was a fairly pretty deer doe, talking to one of the youngest new students.  
  
    "Now, you be good, okay Sam?" She said, patting the young buck on the cheek.  
  
    Sam sighed and nodded. "Yes, Mom... I'm not a fawn anymore, okay? I'm thirteen."  
  
    "I know honey, I know," she nodded, "it's just... I want you to be careful, okay? You're my only son, and I want you to be extra careful with these powers of yours."  
  
    "I _know_ , mom..." Sam grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Not like my powers are anything dangerous anyway..."  
  
    "I'll see you next week, okay?" Sam's mother looked for a confirming nod from Benjamin Clawhauser, and hugged her son, then was on her way.  
  
    "Wait, mom?" Sam rubbed his budding antlers. He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a few seeds. Focusing his other hand on them, which glowed with a greenish-yellow light, the seeds sprouted into a small collection of pastel-colored flowers. He gave these to his mother awkwardly, while Clawhauser looked on with a smile.  
  
    "Thank you, Sammy," she smiled, patting near his antlers.  
  
    "Don't call me that..." Sam protested, though the weakness in his voice didn't sound like he meant it very much.  
  
    Brittany approached the deer after his mother and Mr. Clawhauser left. Sam was very nearly her height, despite being younger, and she figured it wouldn't be long before puberty kicked in and grew him like a weed. She chuckled at thinking of that expression, given his powers of plant growth.  
  
    "Hey, Sam," the fox greeted.  
  
    "Nh?" Sam started in alarm, looking uncomfortable when he saw Brittany. She tried not to take offense; he seemed uneasy around predators in general with the exception of Mr. Clawhauser. Maybe it was something about being a prey. "Oh, Brittany. Uh, did you see much of that?"  
  
    "Yeah," Brittany didn't smile. If she was honest, she felt a little jealous.  
  
    "Guess you're gonna tease me about it, huh?" Sam kicked at the ground.  
  
    "No way," she replied. "I think it's nice."  
  
    "Mom shows up every week, whether anything has happened or not," Sam shrugged, "she's, I dunno... kinda clingy."  
  
    "My parents show up every couple of months, if I'm lucky," Brittany put her hands in her pockets and looked away from Sam. "So enjoy it while it lasts."  
  
    "That's different," Sam shook his head. "You're a predator."  
  
    "...What's that supposed to mean?" She looked at him sidelong, her eyes narrowing.  
  
    "It's just..." Sam suddenly appeared very nervous. "Just what my mom told me. I guess to explain why she's so smothering."  
  
    "What did she say?" Brittany suddenly had the spice of both curiosity and anger brewing in her.  
  
    "That predators... y'know, their parents don't keep up with them much as they get older," Sam looked away, scratching his arm. "But prey do... even though prey usually have a lot of kids."  
  
    "That's just... that's a  _huge_ generalization," Brittany grit her teeth. "From way back in the old days. ...I wish my parents visited more often. I don't care if I'm a predator or not, they should be more interested in me."  
  
    "Oh, um- I'm sorry," Sam frowned.  
  
    "So like I said, enjoy it while it lasts," Brittany frowned, folding her arms, "because if she  _stops_ visiting you every week, you're probably gonna start missing it."  
  
    "Uh, maybe," Sam nodded, his discomfort and desire to leave strongly apparent in his smell, "yeah, probably. Can I go now?"  
  
    "Yeah, you always could?" Brittany huffed. Sam quickly made his escape, while the fox clicked her teeth in annoyance. She resented Sam for getting more attention from her parents,  _and_ clinging to those pred/prey stereotypes that were as old as dirt. She pulled her phone out of her other pocket and swallowed her pride.  
  
    [Hey, can you visit me soon?] Brittany texted her father. She hoped it didn't sound too desperate.  
  
    Her phone buzzed later when she was listening to some music on it, reclined in her bed.  
  
    [We'll try to make some time soon, sweetie.]  
  
    Brittany sighed heavily, turning over in bed and letting a groan escape.  
  


* * *

  
    Nigel and Delilah finally arrived a week later. Brittany tried to be extra enthusiastic about showing them how neat it was at the ZED and how much fun she was having.  
  
    "And this is the statue of Theodore Standler, one of the first Enforcers!" Brittany gestured at the fountain in front of the main building. "He's apparently still really cool, and some Enforcer trainees even get to go meet him!"  
  
    "Huh, a deer, eh?" Nigel nodded.  
  
    "We've  _got_ to eat at the cafeteria here too; the food's really good," Brittany bounced a bit and pointed excitedly. "You two like shrimp, right? They have a great shrimp cream pasta."  
  
    "That sounds lovely, deer- ah, honey," Delilah nodded and a smile formed on her muzzle.  
  
    "Oh, but before that, I gotta introduce you to Skye, I've never done that before yet, right?" Brittany asked. "She's kind of like one of my best friends? But we gotta catch her before we eat, because she doesn't like the cafeteria. Reminds her of how she can't have a good spicy chicken sandwich."  
  
    Her parents shot each other a confused look.  
  
    "Hey _Skye_...!" Brittany called out with her hands to her muzzle. "You lurkin' around here? Or are you awake?"  
  
    "Nope, catchin' a nap," Skye said cheerfully, her astral form swooping down from behind a roof. "Ooh, are these your parents?"  
  
    "Good heavens!" Nigel recoiled.  
  
    "Hi! I'm Skye," Skye waved, her eyes closed.  
  
    "Honey, this seems a bit unusual..." Delilah looked warily at her daughter.  
  
    "Uh, Mom, you  _can_ talk to _her_ , she's right there," Brittany rolled her eyes and gestured at the floating cyan-white fox.  
  
    "I... um, I guess I just wasn't expecting- er-" Delilah seemed to fumble on her words.  
  
    "Yeah, she's a lot older than me, it's true," Brittany bobbed her head back and forth.  
  
    "I think what your mother is trying to say is she's... um, a ghost...?" Nigel's eyes narrowed and he scratched his head. "No, that's impossible. A spirit- is she a _nine-tails_?"  
  
    "No, duh, those aren't real," Brittany swiped her hands, to Skye's giggle. "This is an _astral projection_ of Skye's. She can come out and have fun when she's asleep."  
  
    "And what do you do when you're awake...?" Delilah couldn't seem to process the information.  
  
    "I'd prefer not to talk about that, if it's all the same," Skye smiled sadly. "Lots of physical therapy, mostly laying around. Eating boring food. ...It's a lot more fun to be asleep, actually."  
  
    "Boy, this place sure is full of surprises," Nigel laughed nervously.  
  
    "Speaking of food, we should go eat," Brittany nodded decisively.  
  
    " _One_ day I'll taste chicken again," Skye balled her fists. "Hopefully, anyway."  
  
    During their lunch, Brittany's parents had her recommended dish and ate with with only light conversation. Delilah's phone buzzed, causing Brittany's ear to twitch. She looked at it and gave Nigel an anxious glance.  
  
    "Is something wrong?" Brittany wondered.  
  
    "We're gonna- I'm sorry, sweetie, but we're going to have to go soon," Delilah said with a sad smile.  
  
    "But you just got here!" The teenage protested. "I even got some time with Commander Bogo to talk to you guys later, and- and you haven't met Karen Skippel yet. She's working on a new Mark Three for me."  
  
    "Mach Three what now...?" Nigel narrowed his eyes.  
  
    "Why do you have to go?" Brittany whined.  
  
    "I'm sorry dear, it's just... your father and I have a lot of- of responsibilities right now, and ss- mm- they just tie us up so much," Delilah looked rather desperate.  
  
    "That's right, honey," Nigel nodded emphatically. "We're happy you're doing well and you have a lot of friends."  
  
    "I don't have  _that_ many..." Brittany frowned. "Will you guys come back soon?"  
  
    "Mmhm, we'll try to find some time in our schedule," Nigel said, coming over and giving Brittany a hug, to which she reluctantly hugged back.  
  
    Delilah's phone buzzed again.  
  
    "We really have to go, Nigel," Delilah said in a quiet voice, then hugged Brittany as well. "Bye sweetie, love you!"  
  
    Brittany groaned as her parents left; their food was only mostly finished. She caught a glance from Sam who gave her almost a pitying glance, and she angrily clicked her teeth and stormed off, leaving her own food unfinished. She didn't feel that hungry anymore anyway.  
  


* * *

  
    "Whoa, are they even allowed to film this?"  
  
    Brittany heard Sam's voice coming from the main foyer of the ZED. The growing vixen shook her head of these thoughts and headed to what she hoped would be a welcome distraction from her melancholy thoughts about her parent's visit. The TV in the ZED lobby was tuned to ZNN, and it was showing a scene of Judy fighting Nick.  
  
    "That cameramammal  _cannot_ be getting paid enough to film that close," Callie said, a wry smirk on her otter face.  
  
    "What is it? What's transpiring?" Kain asked, gazing at the TV with his covered eyes.  
  
    "Just take your blindfold off, dingus. I know you can see," Callie huffed.  
  
    "But that would dull my sense!" Kain whined.  
  
    "Oh, I think you're _plenty_ dull," Callie grinned.  
  
    "Why is ZNN recording an Enforcer fight?" Brittany looked at the scene. Somehow, the cameramammal had quick enough reflexes to follow the fight. Nick would zip around, seemingly heedless of the ground, but get stopped by Judy's shockwave kicks. As he flew backwards, then she would attack him with a wide ranged shockwave attack, only for him to use the last of his stored speed to jet away at the last minute. Their tactics seemed to change and shift throughout the fight, and Brittany found it rather thrilling to watch.  
  
    "We're here at the scene!" A harried giraffe barked into the camera. "Will Judy Hopps of the ZED Enforcers be able to recoup her previous loss versus the Emerald-Tinted Hustler?  
      
    "It's not like this is a boxing match or something," Sam's brow narrowed. "Someone could get hurt."  
  
    "Judy does try to kick at a frequency where her kicks don't do too much property damage," Brittany harrumphed, "but yeah, I'm guessing it makes good TV."  
  
    Nick was getting more cautious in his fighting, zipping around shorter distances and spending more time at a normal fox speed. Brittany noticed both Nick and Judy's mouths were nearly constantly moving. She guessed they were quipping or boasting at each other, but the camera wasn't close enough to hear their shouting. Finally, Judy got the upper hand. Nick tried a quick strike while Judy was already kicking, but she had simultaneously kicked in the other direction, creating a double shockwave that caught Nick off guard. He went tumbling though the air and slammed neatly into a building, slumping down.  
  
    "And she's done it!" The reporter said, a kind of mania in her voice. "It appears that the suspect is down for the count!"  
  
    Nick tried to struggle to his feet, but Judy was on him as soon as she could. She zip-tied his ankles and wrists together, and started to drag him off.  
  
    "Well, this is embarrassing," Nick was barely heard to quip.  
  
    "You saw this first here on ZNN!" The reporter boasted. "Back to you, Moosebridge!"  
  
    Even though the command room was pretty far away, Brittany could already hear Commander Bogo barking orders. Reports were being sent on the capture of Nick Wilde, and arrangements were being made.  
  
    "Wow, she did it," Brittany said in an awed voice, genuinely impressed.  
  
    "Guess he was all yap," Callie chuckled, "that's what happens when you let someone like Judy Hopps get stronger and get used to your moves. No matter how fast they are!"  
  
    Brittany was the last one in the lobby, lingering to watch the ZNN reports. It seemed ridiculous how much time they spent on the "superhero" battle, despite not knowing much of Nick Wilde's motivations, and refusing to speculate on them. Brittany tilted her head, unable to make too much of the reporting. It was moot to her, after all, because Judy had succeeded.  
  
    Judy herself walked by Brittany, waving at her, looking very chipper and accomplished. Brittany was going to ask her how it was, but figured she had a report to give to Commander Bogo. It seemed as though things were going back to normal; Brittany felt herself calming down.  
  
    The peace wasn't to last, as chaos soon reigned. Not a minute later, an employee named Agent Wolfard burst into the lobby, looking absolutely panicked. The wolf rushed into the control room, past Brittany.  
  
    "WHAT!? HOW!?"  
  
    Bogo's voice was at his most thunderous. He burst into the lobby like a wild animal, looking left and right with fury in his eyes.  
  
    "Where's Skippel!? Get me Hopps! IMMEDIATELY!" Bogo fumed.  
  
    "S-s-sir!?" Karen was quick to arrive, though Judy was quicker.  
  
    "Wilde has  _already_ escaped!" Bogo shouted. "Where are you on those alloy restraint boots!?"  
  
    "Um... late iteration stage, I should have them ready-" Karen mumbled.  
  
    "Get them done sooner!" Bogo barked, causing Karen to cringe. "And Hopps!"  
  
    "Sir?" Judy looked up at the immense mammal, confusion in her eyes.  
  
    " _Next_ time you face Wilde you are to use _more_ force," Bogo demanded. "I don't care if you put him in a _come_ , you're..." Bogo faltered momentarily, but then shook his head. "We need him subdued longer!"  
  
    "His- I bound his feet like you told me to, sir...!" Judy reported desperately.  
  
    "Apparently he was able to scuffle his feet enough to build up his force and escape," Bogo's teeth ground together. "But we  _have_ to catch him. The inability of the ZED to apprehend this criminal will be a black mark on the ZED, and it will invite all sorts of trouble!"  
  
    Brittany saw Bogo's hand go into one of his pockets briefly as if to confirm its contents, then he quickly looked intense again. "Any questions!?"  
  
    "Should I go after Wilde immediately, sir?" Judy saluted. "Which way did he go?"  
  
    "He's, he went north..." Bogo's eyes went solid white. "...He's on the far edge of my perceptive powers, I can't pinpoint him!" Bogo seemed to think a moment. "Plus... you've just been through a trying battle. We'll...  we need to take some time." Bogo clenched his fists, punching at a wall. It made a solid slam, despite his having no super strength. He took a few breaths to try to calm himself.  
  
    The bunnies and the buffalo awkwardly dispersed. Bogo shot a brief look to Brittany, who had never seen her Commander so angry. His stony expression momentarily softened, but he turned and rushed away.  
  


* * *

  
    Brittany tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep. With her family so cold to her, and Bogo's anger that day so hot, she was left in a very uncomfortable place. Getting out of bed, she wandered into the yard of the ZED, walking out toward the fence. The field looked lush and green, mostly due to Sam's powers. His were the kind that actually  _needed_ to be utilized occasionally or it could cause him considerable discomfort, so he was allowed to turn the greenery around the ZED into a verdant wonderland.  
  
    The feeling of the soft grass brushing against Brittany's tail was welcome and soothing, and she took in rich, deep breaths from the pure air. It was a very nice night, out there away from all the anxieties of the reality around her.  
  
    The vixen picked a single blade of grass up and held it in her fingers. By allowing her peace to falter for just a single moment, the grass blade caught on fire. Brittany controlled the fire, holding it in the space between her hands, letting it stay small and controlled. She threw the small fireball up, focusing her feeling of airy peace on it, and the fireball shattered into many small embers.  
  
    Before the embers could fall onto the ground, Brittany focused on them, and they obediently halted in midair. She could make them swirl around, wave up and down; she had total control over them. She spun herself around, frolicking along with the embers following her, at once at peace and in control of herself and her actions.  
  
    Finally, when she had her fun, she held up her hands, twirled the embers so they formed a ring, and poked in their direction one by one, and each was put out. Brittany found herself smiling; she never felt so totally in control of her fire.  
  
    From the dispelled ring, Skye's spectral form rose from the ground. "And so, I am summoned."  
  
    "Skye!" Brittany flinched. "Uh, you weren't watching that, were you?"  
  
    "Kind of pretty, I think," Skye grinned, but then her grin faltered. "Uh, you might want to be careful though... Commander Bogo's a bit on edge."  
  
    "Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to use my power frivolously, but I feel so in control," Brittany sighed, running a paw over her forehead. "I just... I don't know where I belong, Skye. Is it here with the ZED? I know my family barely seems like a family anymore..."  
  
    "Well, they say you can choose your friends and not your family," Skye floated up a few feet into the air. "But I don't think that's true. Whoever you feel the closest to, that's your family. The ZED has been like a family to me, even before the incident."  
  
    "...Kain calls me the 'Bird With Differing Wings'," Brittany said distantly after a long pause. "What does that mean? Does that mean I need to fly away? Does that mean my powers don't fit with who I am?"  
  
    "Uh, I wouldn't read too much into that," Skye chuckled. "Kain's a bit weird. He calls me the Nine-Tails, and as you can see..." Skye swished her ethereal tail. "Even if you count this one, I only have two total!"  
  
    "He said that you reminded him of the 'Crushing Pall', do you know what that is?" Brittany asked.  
  
    "Um... perhaps?" Skye's pale cyan face showed a guilty grin, "but let's not focus on that, okay? There's too much stress in the world already. Here, I have an idea of something fun we can do."  
  
    Upon Skye's direction, Brittany lit another blade of grass and sent nine embers chasing around Skye, controlling them so she floated around with the little fires following her.  
  
    "See? Fun, right?" Skye grinned.  
  
    "Yeah," Brittany said, growing each fire a little bit. "But I gotta know when to stop, right? Don't want to set the whole field on fire..."  
  
    "Absolutely, fun in moderation," Skye floated to a halt, and motioned for the embers. Brittany directed them into her ghostly paws, twirling them around her wrists. "Really is kind of a neat power."  
  
    Brittany dispelled the fires, nodding. "Yeah... I think I could be happy here, maybe even if I don't go into the Enforcers..."  
  
    "That's the spirit, Brittany," Skye grinned. "I'm sure Commander Bogo and Mr. Clawhauser will help you find your way."  
  
    Brittany snuggled into her bed that night with a smile on her face. She finally felt at peace with herself. She didn't know how long that peace would last, but if she kept things in stride, she thought she might have some fun yet.  
  
    That peace was a very cool feeling.


	6. Signal Fire

    Nearly three years had once again passed.  
  
    Brittany had flourished into an attractive young vixen, her fur vibrant and healthy. She's found her own style, preferring to wear shortish skirt dresses of pastel colors like yellow, with darker shirts and leggings underneath. She was quite a known entity in the ZED, and many mammals were aware of her talents.   
  
    Though she had gained a very tight control on her ability, Brittany found herself presently nervous. Her eighteenth birthday was coming up, and her educational program was just about at an end. Flush with anxiety, she was pacing through the halls of the ZED. Soon, she would have to decide what she wanted to do with her life. Would she request to receive additional training, hoping to join the Enforcers? Or would she go home, satisfied with the control of her fire powers?  
  
    Her pacing was doing little to quell her worries, which instead started creeping over her like a blanket.  
  
    "Why don't you just _kill me_!?"  
  
    Brittany jolted, startled at the sudden outcry. It was Judy's voice, and it was coming from a room called "the archive". Concerned, the vixen decided to peek into the room.  
  
    The archive didn't actually hold any books, but it did have servers filled with various data files accessible to ZED members of certain clearance. It also contained the memories of missions, which were recordings captured from the memories of Enforcers by McHorn.   
  
    Judy was sitting with a blank expression on her face in the darkened room, cross-legged on a small chair, her cheek resting in her paw. She was watching one of her own memories, that of a particularly heated battle with Nick Wilde. She'd just been defeated, apparently, and the fox was standing over her with his familiarly smug face.  
  
    "Oh, I couldn't do that, Buster Bunny," the memory Nick tilted his head mockingly and leaned over. "We make such good rivals."  
  
    "We don't need to be _rivals_ ," Judy's voice growled. "We need you to turn yourself in."  
  
    "Not gonna happen, sweetie," Nick almost sang through a casual voice. "Till we meet again, huh?"  
  
    "Wait, Nick!" Judy had called out, but Nick used some of his stored energy to burst away at high speed.  
  
    "Pause recording," the present-day Judy said dully. She flinched and looked to her side, finally noticing Brittany. The vixen had stepped forward and was watching the memory alongside her. "Oh, hey Brittany."  
  
    "What are you doing?" Brittany blinked.  
  
    Judy didn't immediately respond. She pressed a few buttons on a console, moving back and forth a few frames right when Nick had left. "Hm, he stops smirking right as he's leaving, right when he starts to enter super speed- and he's gone in the next frame. Jeez, he's fast. I wonder if he's just putting on a show for some reason."  
  
    Brittany looked a little baffled.  
  
    "I'm going over my footage of some of our battles," Judy's voice seemed distracted as she shook her head subtly, "trying to find a weakness in my fighting style; one that I can overcome, anyway. Trying to figure out why I haven't been able to win against him ever since that first time I defeated him."  
  
    "You've gotten stronger though, definitely," Brittany noted, "as you've been training."  
  
    "Yeah, but I don't need to be _stronger_ ," Judy grimaced, "I need more _finesse_. It's always the same orders; I can't  _kill_ him, I have to get him alive. That's the trouble. With all of the kicks I know I could probably turn Nick into confetti that even _he_ couldn't heal himself up from, but I can't do that. ...I don't know if I  _would_ do that."  
  
    "He's a murderer, though," Brittany frowned.  
  
    "Allegedly," Judy said sourly, "he's never done anything more than mildly injure me. Heck, he even saved this one guy from falling off a building that I'd accidentally shook with one of my special tremor kicks. I don't understand him. Maybe if I _did_ , I could find some sort of weakness of his and finally be done with this 'rivalry' we have."  
  
    "You're getting tired of it?" The vixen pursued.  
  
    "I... well," Judy cracked a small smile, looking at her with a tiny amount of guilt, "to be honest, I kind of  _like_ fighting him." Her smile quickly vanished. "But I'm afraid that Commander Bogo is getting tired of _me_. I've been at this 'mission' for a long time, and have yet to produce the result the Commander needs. 'This isn't a comic book' he says, 'you're not here to battle a sworn rival in an epic saga'. He insists that it's my powers that can bring him to justice, but I- I dunno." She looked at the footage. "Am I holding back? If I let go just a little more, could I beat him? Or would it kill him...?"  
  
    Brittany followed Judy's gaze back to the footage, which Judy was rifling through impatiently.   
  
    "There's something else," Judy went on, "in going over a lot of my missions, I've noticed something... there!" Judy gestured to zoom in on a particular part of her memory. Squinting, Brittany could make out an orange and black form.   
  
    "Is that Fangmeyer?" Brittany asked rhetorically.   
  
    "Yup," Judy nodded. "She's hidden away somewhere in almost all of my fights. The chief never said anything about giving me backup. I mean, I thought the idea was to have  _me_ fight Nick and avoid Fangmeyer's involvement. I don't get it."  
  
    "You could ask Commander Bogo why she's there," Brittany suggested.  
  
    "At this point, I'm almost afraid to," Judy sighed, kicking her feet while she was seated. She looked over to Brittany, "but- pffft, you don't need to listen to me gripe. You've got a birthday coming up in just a couple of days! The big one-eight!"  
  
    "Mhm," Brittany nodded, "but to be honest, it's gnawing at me. Just really nervous about meeting with Commander Bogo."  
  
    "Oh, don't be," Judy swiped a paw lazily, "you know the Commander likes you."  
  
    "That's not what-" Brittany fumbled with her words, "yeah, I know. Anyway, talk to you later, Judy."   
  
    "See ya," Judy waved at the retreating vixen, turning back to the display. "Pull up Judy Hopps, file 32."  
  
    "Authentication required," a pleasant masculine voice returned.  
  
    "Dumb bunny."  
  
    The doors to the Archives slid shut behind Brittany, almost catching her tail in her mild distraction. She wandered down the halls for at least a half hour before catching sight of Commander Bogo on the other side of one, near an elevator. He appeared to be speaking with restrained frustration, a finger held to his ear.  
  
    "I'd like to think I've been very reasonable about this," Bogo said in a low rumble, "but my patience is not infinite."  
  
    Brittany gasped tersely, hanging in her tracks, taking one step back. She watched Bogo while trying to pretend she wasn't doing so, flicking her eyes over at him a few times while she eavesdropped.   
  
    "I understand that, and I appreciate it," Bogo said in a curt tone, "however, you have had plenty of time. If something is not done soon, I cannot promise inaction on my part."  
  
    Brittany swallowed hard and started to approach Bogo. The buffalo looked mildly alarmed at her approach and bent his head down another few degrees.  
  
    "I will speak to you soon, Bogo out."  
  
    "Commander Bogo...!" Brittany looked up at him, her muzzle pinched anxiously. "Please go easy on Judy, okay? She's trying her hardest!"  
  
    "Beg pardon?" Bogo blinked with a blank look on his face, an eyebrow raising.  
  
    "Regarding Nick, sir," Brittany gestured with both paws close to her chest. "She's trying to get him, she's just finding it hard to do it with the- uh, the parameters she was given."  
  
    "Oh, um, of course," Bogo shook his head, as of out of a daze, "yes, that's fine." He straightened up and got a more solid look on his face. "Anyhow, that is not your concern. I... I have something to tell you."  
  
    "Yes, sir?" The vixen locked her warm brown eyes on Commander Bogo, who seemed to take in their gaze with an extended peal of silence.   
  
    "Ah..." Commander Bogo rubbed behind his head. "Skye would like to see you."  
  
    "Really?" Brittany looked left and right. "Where is she?"  
  
    "She's awake," Bogo said simply. "So-"  
  
    "I've never... I've never  _seen_ seen her," wonderment passed onto the vixen's face, her brow raising.  
  
    "Indeed," Bogo took in and released a long sigh. "Do you want to?"  
  
    "Of course!" Brittany said quickly, but unease just as swiftly hit her in the gut.   
  
    Bogo swallowed and nodded with a tight frown, leading the way to Skye's room. He paused, staring at the door as if its gray pattern was somehow captivating, then looked down at Brittany.  
  
    "Before you go in," Bogo said slowly, "I'd like you to take a moment to mentally prepare yourself for what you will see."  
  
    The unease in Brittany's stomach festered. "...Okay."  
  
    Bogo nodded twice and a pained look crossed his face. "You're a grown female after all, Ms. Voxen. ...I will see you soon." He turned away and slowly made his way down the hall. The vixen felt stunned into inaction, but eventually cracked open the door.  
  
    "Hello?" Brittany called inside fearfully. "It's me, Brittany."  
  
    "Come in," a mostly unfamiliar voice returned after a short delay. Brittany gathered her wits and walked inside.  
  
    The room was arranged as a hospital's would be, and the vixen's eyes were magnetized to the center. A strangled cry struggled out of her mouth. On the bed lay Skye, whose body Brittany looked upon for the first time.  
  
    The reality of many years of bed rest was immediately apparent. Skye's off-white fur was somewhat matted and ungainly, and her limbs seemed unnaturally thin from disuse. Most troubling of all was her face, which seemed unsightly and deformed, nothing like what her astral projection portrayed. One of her eyes on the dented side of her head was silvered over, unseeing. It seemed like she could barely turn her head to look at Brittany.  
  
    "Hi, Bree," part of Skye's mouth seemed to smile, if faintly. Her voice seemed very off from what Brittany was accustomed to; very weak.  
  
    Tears instantly began to line Brittany's eyes and she threw an arm over them as she began to loudly sob. Through her crying, she could barely manage a sniffling: "Skye...!"  
  
    "It's okay, honey, just let it out," Skye said slowly. "I'm proud of you."  
  
    Brittany couldn't respond, feeling unsteady. She got weak in the legs, and fumbled around for a nearby chair. She sat into it and bowed her head, continuing to sob, burying her head in her paws.  
  
    "Look at you," Skye's voice had a note of pride, though Brittany could barely bring herself to look at her in return. "It's good to finally see you with my own eye. Your fur is so vibrant and soft-looking. Hard to make out those details with the astral vision..."  
  
    "Skye..." Brittany still couldn't articulate, the name coming out in a hitched huff. She released the paws rubbing her eyes, looking up into the bed.  
  
    "Birthday's so soon, Bree," Skye let out one bit of a chuckle. "I'll be there in spirit, of course, if I can calm down enough to sleep through it. It has me so excited to know you're 'officially' a grown female."  
  
    "Skye, who did this to you?" Brittany mumbled in despair through a heaving sob. "...I'll make them pay. I'll- I'll _incinerate_ them...!" Her threat sounded paradoxically both weak and forceful as she squeezed her paws into fists.  
  
    Skye's small smile vanished. "No, Brittany. ...That's one thing I wanted to talk to you about."  
  
    Brittany took a few moments to try to compose herself, her heaving breaths slowing into quiet shudders.  
  
    "What do you want to talk about?" Brittany asked in a lifeless voice.  
  
    "I..." Skye started, frowning, "I know I'm not your mother." She smiled, very, very faintly. "But I do think of you like a little sister." That got Brittany to start sobbing again. "...And I don't want my little sister caught up in a chain of violence and revenge. Not for my sake, not for anything. ...That's not really what you want either, is it?"  
  
    "Skye...!" Brittany wailed in a pinched voice.  
  
    "Is it?" Skye pressed. "Do you want to use your powers to burn living mammals?"  
  
    Brittany was silent for a full minute. She felt ashamed and somewhat repulsed, both by the sights in the room and its medicinal smell, which brought more feelings of shame.   
  
    "I understand what you're saying," Brittany said finally. "...If I hurt someone like that and they- they were left alive... left like- something like you..."  
  
    Skye could barely nod, but she smiled a little more. "Yes, exactly. ...I'm so proud of you, Bree. Just look at you. That emotional outburst of yours... I didn't feel the room get even a little bit hotter."  
  
    Brittany laughed unsteadily and tearfully. " _That's_ where your mind went?"  
  
    "It's part of why I haven't asked to see you before, Bree," Skye sighed. "I know how unpleasant I look; how difficult this must be for you. I didn't want to agitate you."  
  
    "...Yeah," Brittany looked down. "That would- would probably have been bad. If I went all fiery in here." She didn't want to admit it, but her discomfort was growing by the second.  
  
    "I'll see you at your birthday party," Skye said quietly. "I'll just have to stay awake the night before so I can be asleep for it."  
  
    "Right," Brittany's eyes looked away, though her muzzle pointed at Skye. She slowly stood up and managed to look upon her again. "I... I love you, Skye."  
  
    "I know, Bree," Skye sighed happily. "Love you too, honey."  
  
    Brittany left the room, the door closing quietly behind her. Her emotions swirled within her like a warm whirlpool, grief and happiness mixing in equal measures. She released another slow breath, then headed off to her room to do some serious reflective thinking.  
  


* * *

  
    "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"  
  
    A chorus of Brittany's friends hollered the two words at her as they congregated around her. They were celebrating the birthday in the main cafeteria, and several empowered mammals she knew showed up. Marvin, still the head chef, came over and placed a tasty-looking rectangular cake in front of them.  
  
    "Some eighteen-year old order a birthday cake?" He drawled cheerfully, laying out a vanilla cake festooned with red fruits and icing in front of the mammals.  
  
    "It's- uh," Brittany chuckled, pointing at it. "The candles aren't lit."  
  
    "You could easily fix that," Callie the otter deadpanned with a tiny smirk on her face.  
  
    "I'm not supposed t-" Brittany sucked at her teeth.  
  
    "You're how old, eighteen?" Marvin barked. "We do got fire extinguishers over here."   
  
    "It's all right!" Benjamin nodded rapidly.  
  
    "Okay, okay," Brittany rolled her eyes. "It's much easier with a wand-" She snapped her claws together a few times before producing a spark that she "held" on her fingertip and lit each one of the candles.  
  
    "I'm here, I'm here!" Skye's astral projection said, suddenly manifesting in the middle of the room. "Am I late? Am I overlapping anyone?" She looked to her left and right to make sure she hadn't projected on top of anyone.  
  
    "No no, we only just started," Brittany said as she lit the final candle and blew the flame out of her finger. "Now what? I just... blow them out again?"  
  
    "After making a wish, of course!" Skye smiled.   
  
    Brittany gave her a sort of a sad smile. She flashed back to what state Skye's body was actually in, and wondered briefly how she could be so cheerful and pure in her astral state. So, a pure wish formed in the vixen's mind, and she leaned over and blew the candles out in one big puff.  
  
    "Nice," Callie started a little golf clap for her, which the rest of the mammals joined in.  
  
    "So do we give the gifts now?" Sam the deer awkwardly came forward with a box. Brittany chuckled a little; he'd grown quite a bit past her, but his youth was still apparent in the tone of his voice. "Uh, happy birthday, Brittany." He presented the box to her.  
  
    "Thank you, Sam," Brittany accepted the gift. The plain box was wrapped with some thin vines and, instead of a bow, had a few pastel flowers dotting the vines. "Uh, are you gonna be offended if I open this?"  
  
    "No, uh, no!" Sam laughed, "sorry, just- ah, couldn't find some ribbon. Heh. It's not like I 'feel' the plants, anyway. I'm not weird like that."  
  
    "Nah, you're weird in other ways," the much smaller otter snarked at him. "But for truly weird, we have the quokka."  
  
    As if voice-activated, the robed quokka Kain grinned up at the gathered mammals. "It is indeed joyous that the Bird With Differing Wings has matured. But, the question is... will she ever unfurl both wings?"  
  
    "I  _had_ to say something..." Callie groaned. "Kain, she knows how to fly, okay? I've seen her do it. Quit with the metaphors."  
  
    Brittany laughed lightly as she ran a claw gently through the vines to open the package. Inside, there were three little round bird plushies with large whimsical feathers pointing up from the top of their heads, one colored in pastel blue, the other a light pink, and the last one a soft yellow.  
  
    "Aw, these are adorable," Brittany smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Sam."  
  
    "You're welcome," Sam smiled, looking relieved. "I just- I hoped you didn't have too many of them already."  
  
    "She does like her birds," Skye grinned warmly.  
  
    Brittany followed Callie's gaze to the door, and Commander Bogo was standing there, looking fairly pleasant, for him.  
  
    "Commander Bogo," Brittany said, her smile slowly melting away.  
  
    "Oh no, don't let me interrupt," Bogo waved a hand. "Just, whenever you're ready, come down to my office."  
  
    Brittany took a steadying breath. "I might as well get this over with."  
  
    "Aw c'maaaahn," Marvin frowned. "You haven't even had a slice of cake yet!"  
  
    "Well, save one for me!" Brittany replied, standing up. "Oh, and Sam, could you put those plushies in my room for me?"  
  
    "Go into  _your_ room?" He seemed to need clarification, disbelieving. Brittany nodded, and he got a few stares from others. "It's just... y'know, she's an older girl and all..."  
  
    "What?" Callie hopped up onto the table and poked him in one of his budding antlers. "Would that make you 'horny'?"  
  
    "Pffft," Brittany giggled.  
  
    "No!" Sam's brow fell and he waved her off. "I'm not into her like that. It's just-"  
  
    "Hmhm, _boys_ ," Callie rolled her eyes.  
  
    Brittany left the festive scene behind, following Bogo into his simple and stately office. As Brittany's eyes wandered over the room while she was admitted, she got the sense that she was, in fact, a smaller animal in the grand scheme of things.  
  
    "Well, happy birthday," Bogo nodded, sounding very official and polite while saying the words. He nodded at her.  
  
    "Thank you, Commander," Brittany smiled.  
  
    "I should tell you that you have been showing excellent promise with the control of your powers," Bogo said, sitting at his desk. He pulled up some information on his computer, looking over her records. "You show dedication to your academics, have helped with ideas for Skippel's research and development, and in general have been a very agreeable addition to the ZED."  
  
    "Thank you very much," Brittany's smile turned sheepish, feeling a little overwhelmed by the rare praise.  
  
    "So, I am prepared to offer you a training course for the Enforcer position, should you wish it," Bogo looked seriously down at Brittany.  
  
    Brittany hesitated. She at times had doubted that she would be given this chance. As if Commander Bogo was holding something back from her for some reason. But now, he seemed ready to let her go forward with open arms. She couldn't help thinking about Skye, or her own conflicting thoughts on her purpose in life or the purpose of her powers.  
  
    "..I um, that is very generous of you," Brittany smiled. She suddenly felt very afraid.  
  
    "...But?" Bogo read the distress on her face.  
  
    "...Do I have to decide right now?" The vixen's voice was barely a squeak. "I mean... Callie still stays here and she's not an Enforcer."  
  
    "Callie has..." Bogo blinked. "Well, she has rather... extenuating circumstances. ...Are you sure you wouldn't rather just go back home to your family?"  
  
    Brittany didn't answer, and her unsaid words spoke volumes as her face flushed away all emotion.  
  
    "Well, of course you can stay for now," Bogo shook his head, then nodded firmly, "we'd be happy to accommodate you."  
  
    "Thank you..." Brittany felt a wave of relief. "Maybe just for a few months? To y'know... think about what I really want to do..."  
  
    "Of course," Bogo nodded. "That said, whether you stay or not, I do have a gift for you."  
  
    "Really?" The vixen looked surprised.  
  
    Bogo held out a small metal chest, and opened it. "Really, it's more of a gift from Skippel, but you can keep it, regardless of what happens."   
  
    "Is this the Mark III?" Brittany gasped, yanking the wand out of its home and immediately pressing the button on the middle to extend it. "Wow, mechanical movement, openings at both ends... and it even looks like you can replace the fuel sources." She twirled it, then shrank it again.  
  
    "Nice to see the enthusiasm," Bogo chuckled. "You're welcome." He looked to the wall, where there was a large computer display with information of all sorts buzzing around it, projecting onto a map of Zootopia. An uncharacteristically troubled look passed onto his face, but he shook it off. "If you are to be staying with us... I suppose I could teach you a new technique."  
  
    "Huh?" Brittany chirped. "Like what?"  
  
    "A power you probably didn't know you had," Bogo said, getting a small, lazy smile. "Kind of similar to my power, actually. In ways. It's a different kind of sight."  
  
    "I have a power like that?" Brittany was confused. "How have I not noticed?"  
  
    "You haven't summoned it yet," Bogo explained. "It's not really something you'd do on accident. First, you have to close your eyes."  
  
    Brittany did so. "Okay. ...You're not going to scare me or anything, are you?"  
  
    "Do you know me to kid around?" Bogo grumbled. "Anyway, what you're doing is trying to develop a desire to see heat. Keep your eyes shut, because if your eyes see light it won't work. You have to  _need_ them to see heat; that which you can control with your powers."  
  
    Though this sounded esoteric to Brittany, she kept her eyes shut and tried to follow his instructions. "Am I doing it right?"  
  
    "I have no idea," Bogo chuckled wryly. "I'm not psychic. Well, I suppose in ways I am, but that's beside the point. Can you see anything yet?"  
  
    "I can't- wait," Brittany kept her eyes squinted shut, and suddenly white shapes came into view. Though blurry at first, the fidelity on them quickly increased as she focused, and she "saw" Commander Bogo seated in front of her. "Whoa. I can see you!"  
  
    "Excellent," Bogo nodded, and a terse giggle leaped from her muzzle as she could see him doing that, though the movement was a little fuzzy and he came into full view only when he stayed still. "Now, we should test the range of your ability." He pointed in the direction of Zootopia. "Can you see anything that way?"  
  
    Brittany tried, and she saw an innumerable mass of indistinct white blobs. While focusing on them, she found she could "look past" them, zoom in, and even focus on them to see them clearly. "Wow, it's like, I can see any mammal I want..."  
  
    "Mm," Bogo nodded. "Do you think you could find your family that way? Is your focus good enough?"  
  
    "My family..." Brittany breathed out, "well, I only have a rough idea of where they live now, but I could try." As she did, she looked up and down buildings, peeking over various mammal forms. "This is kinda fun, actually, I can- oh!" Brittany's eyes flew open, and she squinted as her eyes got used to regular light again.   
  
    "What's the matter?" Bogo half-got out of his seat.  
  
    "Eheh..." a guilty smile splayed over Brittany's face and she poked her forefingers together. "Saw something I shouldn't have."  
  
    "Oh," Bogo rolled his eyes, but barely smiled.  
  
    Brittany shut her eyes again, eager to give it another shot. Focusing and concentrating, she thought she saw some familiar fox figures in the rough area of Savanna Central. She recalled her parents telling her they had moved there. "I think I got them... is that them? Wait a second..." She focused very hard, and the figures came into view. "Yeah that's dad...- wait, _what_!? Oh no!"  
  
    "Yes?" Bogo leaned forward on his desk.  
  
    "Two buildings down!" Brittany pointed. "I see this white amorphous... that's _fire_! That's fire, isn't it? A stove fire... there's no one in that floor!"  
  
    "Oh?" Bogo sounded only mildly concerned. "Well, we can inform the ZFD, and-"  
  
    "Bogo!" Brittany shook her head to clear her vision, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Commander Bogo, please let me put that fire out!"  
  
    "Huh?" Bogo raised an eyebrow. "It's just a random fire. Should you even get there in ti-"  
  
    "I could!" Brittany argued. "You know I've figured out flight with the Mark II...!"  
  
    "Right, that ungainly technique," Bogo grumbled. "Listen, Ms. Voxen. You're not officially an Enforcer yet, so I can't exactly-"  
  
    "Please, Commander!" Brittany begged, holding her arms out. "You- you  _know_ how I got here. I can- I can prove I can control it. I can stop that building from having the same fate that my first home suffered!"  
  
    Commander Bogo had an unclear look on his face. "Fine."  
  
    "What... really?" Brittany honestly didn't expect him to relent.  
  
    "Quickly, to the command room, before I think better of it," Bogo grumbled. He placed a communicator in his ear and tapped it. "McHorn. Meet me in the command room." He turned his attention back to the vixen. "You're to take care of this fire expediently and then come back, understand?"  
  
    "Yh-yes sir!" Brittany said, mystified as she followed Commander Bogo to the command room. McHorn the rhino soon arrived, looking rather grumpy and tired. He sat down at his station.  
  
    "Touch McHorn's horn," Bogo directed. Hesitantly, Brittany did so, and instinctively looked at the viewscreen as her field of vision appeared on it. It promptly began to display more viewscreens, as she was looking directly at it, and this cycled on into infinity.  
  
    "Whoa..." Brittany shook her head and looked away at the bizarre sight, feeling slightly dizzy.  
  
    "And don't do that," Commander Bogo said tersely, though no humor was in his voice. "Listen, I know you must be nervous about this-"  
  
    "Yes sir, but I'll get over it," Brittany nodded, brandishing her wand and extending it into its rod form. "I will master my fears and-"  
  
    "You will have to stay at least a little bit nervous," Bogo warned.  
  
    "What?"  
  
    "You are well aware that your power is fueled by your emotion," Bogo said, "agitation leads to heating and the building of fire, and by calming down you can extinguish it. If you lose control of the fire, even for a moment, you'll drop it, you understand? Don't get too comfortable with it."  
  
    "Sir, yes sir," Brittany nodded, though this reminder was almost elementary to her at this point. "I'll do my best."  
  
    "Now go, before it gets any bigger," Bogo directed, turning to look at the viewscreen.  
  
    Brittany nodded, and rushed out into the courtyard.  
  
    "I gotta take off!" Brittany said, waving a few other mammals away. "Here goes..."  
  
    The vixen straddled the metal rod and gripped on tight to the front of it, adjusting her position for balance, then tilted it at an angle upwards. Suddenly, fire burst out powerfully from one end of the rod and quickly sent her into the air. She gained height, using the rod as a rocket, and braced herself as she tried to control the direction with the front of the rod. In truth, it was not a technique she had mastered yet, but she felt her determination fuel the fire.  
  
    "Yeesh!" Brittany felt her tail warm up uncomfortably as it got close to the fire, and she took one hand off the front of the rod to wrap it over her thigh before continuing. She nearly lost balance, gripping firmly with her other hand as she streaked through the sky.  
  
    She felt like she'd have no problems being nervous, especially if that fire got bigger by the time she got there.  
  
    But she would put it out, she had to.  
  
    In that moment of certainty, the flame from the rocket blast flickered, just a little. Not enough to throw her off, but just enough to give her a jolt. Her nerves alighted again, and the flight stabilized.  
  
    "Great, this is going to be terrifying," Brittany's voice was basically inaudible as she shot toward the skyline of Zootopia. The late afternoon sky would have looked beautiful to her if she wasn't so focused on being afraid. There was no time to lose. She was going to complete her first mission.  
  
    She hoped.


	7. Antipode

    Landing on her feet was always the tricky part.  
  
    "Whoa-oh-AGH!" Brittany tried to quell the fire rocketing from the rod, jumped off it at the last second, and gracelessly stumbled forward several paces while trying to keep her balance. Eventually she stumbled against a tree, which she hit at near running speed, pressing against it.  
  
    "The heck is that?" A confused koala asked as they walked by. "One of those super-criminals?"  
  
    "Heh, she looks like a witch," a male antelope noted. "Check out that broomstick action."  
  
    "I'm- I'm a member of the ZED!" Brittany proclaimed, holding up a paw and waving it to try to gather attention. She swiped it through the air. "Please clear the area; this building has a fire brewing!"  
  
    Most passersby ignored her though one giraffe did look up to the building.  
  
    "I think I heard the fire alarm go off, just now," the giraffe winced. "Though that could just be my tinnitus."  
  
    "Hngh!" Brittany swung her rod with both hands and shattered the window closest to the fire.  
  
    "Hey, you can't do that!" The koala accused, but quickly recoiled as smoke billowed from the opening. "Whoa, it really is on fire! Someone call the ZFD!"  
  
    "There it is," Brittany clenched her teeth with her mouth firmly closed. She felt her heart pick up at the sight of the fire, which was slowly crawling across the room. "Stay back, everyone!"  
  
    She hadn't been afraid of fire for a long time, but this was finally her chance to prove her usefulness. Also, some deep part of her hoped that her parents, two buildings away, would notice her and see what deft control she had over the fire, and that would communicate to them how safe it was to be around her. Perhaps they'd even want her to be a part of their lives again.  
  
    The anxiety caused the fire to lurch and grow; it directly fed off of her powers. Realizing this, Brittany quickly shrank her rod back to a wand and pointed it at the fire.  
  
    "Oh no you don't," she said sternly. "You belong to me."  
  
    The fire eerily levitated off of its fuel and swirled around through the air like a fiery serpent. Gesturing with her free hand, the blazing snake traveled through the window. With an upward gesture of the wand, as if conducting an orchestra, the fire billowed into the sky, where it congregated into a large ball.  
  
    "Whoa..." several mammals gawked.  
  
    "Hah," Brittany let out a single bark of a laugh. It really was so easy; almost anticlimactically so. All she would have to do is collapse the fire, and she would be done. Serenity came over her as she realized that she would, in fact, be able to do this. The fire had already started shrinking at her peaceful thoughts, and a little smile grew onto the vixen's muzzle.  
  
    Her heat vision, she realized, would be immensely useful in helping the city non-violently. Stopping fires before they got to be a problem, or fires that were too big for the ZFD to safely approach. Fire bent to her, bowed to her, and lost to her. She was in total control of it. Even more so than in her youth when she decided she wanted to be an Enforcer, she felt a sense of satisfaction and purpose that she'd never known before. Peace and happiness flooded her as she pointed at the fire with an open paw.  
  
    "Disappear," she said calmly, squeezing her free hand shut. In one easy motion, the fire completely vanished into itself with an audible "shoop".  
  
    Before the impressed mammals standing around even thought to clap for the vixen, a transparent sphere of energy surged through the air where the fire had been.  
  
    "What...?" Brittany's eyes opened wide. The force quickly shot through everyone standing around, and though they felt a moment of terror, nothing seemed to happen. The force was, however, very, very cold. Brittany and a few other mammals shivered.  
  
    "What was that?"  
    "It was chilly, whatever it was!"  
  
    Brittany darted her gaze this way and that to make sure everyone around was okay, then looked back up where the fire had been and yelped. Somehow, the very air was freezing around the empty space that once contained the fire, and it crackled and grew outward jaggedly, like a malevolent crystal infection.  
  
    "What!?" Brittany screamed. "No! What is this!?"  
  
    Brittany gasped in increasing despair as she found that the ice shooting across the sky started to slow when her panic grew. Was  _she_ causing that explosion of ice somehow?  
  
    "Oh no, no no no..." Brittany wailed as the twisted sculpture began to look more and more unstable. "Everyone, run!"  
  
    This time, mammals heeded her direction, screaming as Brittany's increasingly heated fear prevailed and the massive ice object shattered in midair, scattering in all directions.  
  
    "Ngh!" Brittany felt a bite of panic as the first of many sharp icy shards started to rain down on the street like violent hail. She gasped, near breathless, as one of these cold shards just barely grazed her extending arm, causing a pinch of pain.  
  
    She had no more time to think if she had caused this problem; she was going to fix it.  
  
    "Huhggh!" Brittany swished her wand rapidly forward, releasing fireball after fireball. The tight blazes consumed the ice they were sent at, bursting some apart into harmless water. Through she threw flame continuously from her wand, the damage she was doing to the ice paled in comparison to the damage the ice was doing to the surrounding area. Cars screeched to a halt in the middle of the road as their drivers saw the freak hailstorm.  
  
    "Ghhh!" Brittany's anxiety hit a new peak, flames spouting from her wand in a steady stream as she tried in vain to consume all of the encroaching projectiles. "Get indoors!" She wailed.  
  
    Though shrieks of pain and panic clouded the air almost as much as the ice, it seemed to Brittany's frantic glances like no one was being seriously injured, and that everyone was going to make it out okay.  
  
    In a moment of complete despair, she didn't know if that was going to include her. Dread, a different kind of terror, chomped down hard on her heart, and her fire completely failed her, replaced by a spray of ice.  
  
    "Oh please, no!" Brittany screamed. "NO! It  _is_ me!"  
  
    "Brittany, get down!"  
  
    The vixen barely had time to dive toward a nearby tree when she heard a familiar "TCHAK!" and saw a gray streak shoot by her. When her eyes adjusted, she saw Judy flying through the air, kicking rapidly, using her shockwaves to break apart the ice, where it fell to the ground as harmless diamond dust. She jumped ever further into the sky using her shockwaves as an invisible midair springboard, approaching the denser parts of the ice.  
  
    "Judy!" Brittany shouted. "What are you doing!?"  
  
    "Lending a helping paw!" Judy shot back fearlessly, her deft dance through the air destroying the ice around her.  
  
    "There's too much of it!" The vixen wailed. "You can't get it all!"  
  
    "Just have to get  _enough_ of it!" Judy shot back. Though she weaved through the storm as if possessed by a spirit of zen-like calmness, she grunted as an ice shard found a home in her shoulder. "Agh! That's sharp!"  
  
    "JUDY!" Brittany screamed. A burst of fire exploded around her, but not far enough to make a difference.  
  
    The world appeared to enter slow motion for the adrenaline-flooded fox and bunny. Brittany held up her wand as she noticed more shards on a deadly collision course with Judy after her midair balance was compromised by the first blow. Fire eagerly swirled within the wand as it waited to streak up to meet the ice, but Brittany hesitated for an eternal second. She couldn't bear the thought of incinerating the bunny with her panicked fireball.  
  
    Brittany blinked, and then the icicles threatening the bunny were suddenly erased.  
  
    "What...?" Brittany mumbled, the fire going from her wand in sudden relief. She saw the lithe form of a fox appear right beside her, drop three icicles on the ground, then take a few steps forward.  
  
    "Nick!" Judy shouted at him, though Brittany couldn't place the intended emotion.  
  
    "Just a sec, Buster," Nick smirked, bending down to a knee, which caused a bright surge to envelop his body. He vanished from view, appearing on the sides of buildings and then disappearing again, flashing every time. This happened faster and faster until the red fox appeared fully in midair, flipped forward once, and landed gracefully on the street many paces away from Brittany's tree. The remaining ice peacefully fell to the ground as tiny particles.  
  
    "Gh!" Judy was still falling, but managed an awkward kick downward to stabilize herself and land near Brittany.  
  
    "That takes care of that," Nick dusted off his paws, which sparkled with the ice's remains.  
  
    Brittany's terrified breaths were finally stabilizing as she tried to fully process what had just happened.  
  
    "Nick," Judy said with an ambiguous voice.  
  
    "You're welcome," Nick clicked his claws and pointed at Judy.  
  
    "Huh?" Judy shook her head.  
  
    "Y'know, 'you're welcome'," Nick held his arms out. "Customary thing to say to someone who's thankful for saving your tail."  
  
    "I had it covered," Judy protested, folding her paws. "Mostly."  
  
    "Maybe, but you were also about to become a frosted porcupine," Nick shrugged. "And hey, I could deal with a few puncture wounds a lot better than that little bunny body could."  
  
    "Don't start, mister," Judy challenged, pointing forward. "In fact, how about you and I go a round? Brittany, get to cover." An unknown feeling kept Brittany's paws rooted to the ground as she looked between them, utterly confused.  
  
    "What? You want to fight _now_?" Nick's brow fell, his arms falling to his sides as if he lost all feeling in them. "After I just helped you out? That's some gratitude for you."  
  
    "I still have my orders to capture you," Judy took a readied stance. "Those haven't changed."  
  
    "Boy, what a buzz kill," Nick scoffed. "Having to take mysterious orders from that grumpy buffalo."  
  
    "It's hardly mysterious!" Brittany declared suddenly, thrusting her wand threateningly in Nick's direction. "You're a murderer!"  
  
    "With  _that_ again," Nick placed his hands into his pockets, looking up at the sky. "I think you should drop that magical fairy wand, Princess, before you hurt yourself with it."  
  
    "Ngh!?" Brittany bared her teeth. "How dare you!"  
  
    "You clearly don't know how to use it," Nick tossed her a cold glance. "I'm fairly sure the weather report didn't call for hail today."  
  
    "I-" Brittany swallowed, dumbfounded.  
  
    "Maybe he's right, Brittany," Judy looked at her sidelong. "You should probably get back to the ZED until we know what exactly is going on with you."  
  
    "You want me to just leave you?" Brittany's tone wavered.  
  
    "You're not an Enforcer, Brittany," Judy said with surprising patience, though her voice was tight. "You're also no match for Nick. I don't want to see you get hurt."  
  
    Brittany's ego took on wounds at that, looking nervously at the other present red fox, who was dusting his feet off against the ground casually.  
  
    "The grumpybun's right about that, my dear Princess," Nick released a smug grin. "Run along and let the grown-ups talk." Brittany growled loudly.  
  
    "Don't get cocky, fox," Judy sent a warning stab of her leg at Nick, which released a long, cylindrical airburst. Nick calmly sidestepped it. "Brittany's right too. You're still a murderer, and you still need to answer for your crimes."  
  
    Nick looked annoyed for about two seconds before his easygoing look re-infected his face. "Gosh, it must be so boring to view the world in black and white."  
  
    "What are you talking about?" Judy raised an eyebrow.  
  
    Nick slowly held his paws open wide. "I suppose you're expecting me to segue into my supervillain rant now, so here goes." He daintily coughed into his paw. "I'll tell you exactly how many mammals I've killed, and even their names." He tersely held up the back of two of his fingers. "Two. The first one was Serena Prowlmore, a jaguar. Do you remember hearing about her?"  
  
    "No...?" Judy kept her ready stance; something seemed a bit off about Nick's mood that day.  
  
    "She liked hunting down canids; she had the ability to grow bone protrusions from any of her joints," Nick scowled. "She especially liked killing defenseless non-powered canids. She cornered me once, and she wasn't aware I had super speed. Technically, she never  _was_ aware I had super speed. I killed her instantly."  
  
    Brittany swallowed, dread swirling around her like an icy storm; she could swear it actually  _was_ getting cold around her.  
  
    "The other one was Rocky Holideer, a deer with some sort of hypnotic powers," Nick folded his arms tightly, standing up very straight. "He liked to use his powers to cause other mammals to do very unspeakable things for him. I'd elaborate, but I'm afraid I'd offend the Princess' delicate ears."  
  
    "Tch, stop calling me that," Brittany spat.  
  
    "I mean, I  _suppose_ I could have just turned him into the ZED instead of killing him," Nick frowned seriously. "Even if the things I saw him do made me repulsed to my very core. Who knows? Maybe he would have hypnotized some of your guys into causing chaos among your ranks before you came to the same conclusion that I did."  
  
    "That just killing him was the solution?" Judy returned in an even voice.  
  
    "Sometimes you have to make a tough choice like that to end suffering before it can spread further," Nick said calmly. His features suddenly lightened. "What I want to know is... your buffalo chief can supposedly tell the abilities of every mammal in Zootopia, or close to it. Why's he so intent on capturing me? He should know those mammals were really bad eggs. One I killed in self-defense, the other I killed to spare several other mammals' undeserved suffering."  
  
    "I suppose it's a matter of pride," Judy explained coolly. "We haven't been able to handle you. A lot of that is on me. How can mammals think that the ZED will keep them safe from empowered criminals if a shameless empowered criminal is free to do whatever he wants in the city?"  
  
    "I mean, they haven't seemed to mind too much so far," Nick smirked. "They play our fights on the news with such enthusiasm."  
  
    Her mind was going a mile a minute, but Brittany suddenly stood up straight, a thought galvanizing her nervous system like a lightning bolt. She snarled and let out a bark.  
  
    "I know why...!" She gripped her wand tighter, and the tip of it glowed with an intense fire that seemed to whiten in its sheer heat.  
  
    "What? You do...?" Judy looked at her warily.  
  
    "It makes perfect sense!" Brittany shouted, shaking a fist in rage. "I know you and Bogo have a history. You must have been the one that hurt Skye!"  
  
    "Skye...?" Nick cocked his head.  
  
    "Don't pretend like you don't know who I'm talking about!" Brittany hollered.  
  
    "I don't know a Skye," Nick placed his arms on his hips casually. "You know, except for the one that was just raining icicles a few minutes ago. You are welcome for my bailing you out of that, by the way."  
  
    "SHUT UP!" Brittany yelled. The white-hot ball of fire at the end of her wand actually started to hurt to hold, so she extended it to a rod to keep it further away from her. "What, just because you didn't  _kill_ her, that means you can- you can just  _absolve_ yourself of all responsibility? Jh-just because her waking moments are filled with pain and hopelessness, it's fine just because she's _alive_? You didn't even bother to remember her _name_!?"  
  
    "You're barking up the wrong tree, Princess," Nick insisted, his voice losing any semblance of humor.  
  
    "I've had enough of you!" Brittany held her rod out straight, aiming it at Nick.  
      
    "Brittany, chill out!" Judy hissed. "If he says he didn't hurt-"  
      
    "You  _believe_ this guy, Judy!?" Brittany's voice cracked. " _Seriously_!?"  
  
    "Put the fireball down," Judy said stonily. "You'll miss him and end up hurting something or someone else."  
  
    "Khh...!" Brittany felt like crying, but her hand wobbled and she dropped her aim. Frigid hopelessness overcame her, and the fire was put out as swiftly as a candle in a gale.  
  
    "Y'know, Buster Bun?" Nick cocked his head, folding his arms. "I actually think it might be good for her to get some of that teenage angst out."  
  
    "What are you saying?" Judy deadpanned at him.  
  
    "C'mon," Nick pat his chest twice. "One free shot at me. Hit me with everything you have."  
  
    "Are you insane?" Judy's eyes narrowed.  
  
    "It wouldn't be anything I couldn't handle," Nick said airily. "It'd be good for the kit to learn how hopelessly outclassed she is."  
  
    Brittany snarled, and thought she was growling, but no sound came out.  
  
    "I wouldn't, Brittany..." Judy warned in a wavering voice. "He's just toying with you."  
  
    Brittany reduced her rod to a wand once more and pointed it at Nick. Her voice came out icy. "You'll pay for underestimating me."  
  
    "Wow..." Nick drew out the word, a bored expression passing over his face. "Spoken like a true fledgling heroine."  
  
    At that moment, Brittany hated Nick more than anything else in the world. She was overcome by the most seething, chilly feelings of malice she'd ever known. She thought back to the weakness of his that she overheard Bogo speaking about. She hoped he still had it.  
  
    "Offer's not open all day, Princess," Nick called out. "You gonna-?"  
  
    "Haaagh!" Brittany swiped her wand and threw out a spread of icicles from it. They sped reasonably quickly toward the other red fox, but Nick used his super speed to easily avoid the whole spread. Worse yet, he'd managed to do it without even looking like he was moving, blinking out of existence and back to the same location in a split second.  
  
    Nick smirked, shrugging. "There, you got it all out of your system now, honey?"  
  
    Brittany's eye twitched and she quickly closed her other fist.  
  
    "Ggghkk!"  
  
    The icicles, still in flight, had all converged on Nick's position, quick as a flash of lightning. Caught off guard by this, the icy spears skewered him from several angles.  
  
    "Nick!" Judy's eyes flew open. "Brittany, what've you done!? We're not supposed to  _kill_ him!"  
  
    "Dghhhhh...!" Nick's stance faltered as terror overcame Brittany. "Nnngh, no- no no, don't worry. Just a little impalement... nothing super new for me. Quite painful though, I'll give you that..." He shuddered as his healing ability began to kick in, even with the cold spikes sticking out of him. "Gonna have to melt these babies. Hhhgh... you feelin' any better now, vixen? Ghk... feeling like a _grownup_?"  
  
    Brittany thought she would be sick.  
  
    She didn't have much time to think beyond that, however.  
  
    "Gaaaaagh!" Judy screamed.  
    "Uaaagh!" Brittany wailed simultaneously.  
  
    An unseen, pushing force had blindsided them both and knocked them against the tree they were standing near. Swiftly trying to get her bearings and roll off the bunny she'd landed against, Brittany looked up and spotted an orange and black form rushing Nick.  
  
    "Fangmeyer!?" Judy and Brittany screamed at the same time.  
  
    "Whoa, hey kitty," Nick's eyes widened. "Easy, girl. This isn't about the time I humiliated you in front of the ZED, is it?"  
  
    Expressionless, Fangmeyer was steps from Nick before she pulled out some kind of syringe from her belt and thrust it at Nick. He barely dodged out of the way, the needle missing him by inches.  
  
    "Yikes! What the-?" Nick stumbled, grunting in pain from his injuries.  
  
    "Stand still," Fangmeyer growled, thrusting at him again and again. Nick raised an arm with an ice shard protruding from it to block the needle and move it away, trying to take even one step forward and crouch to get his speed burst. "Oh no you _don't_." Fangmeyer stepped hard on Nick's foot, then released a brutal straight punch into Nick's chest backed by a gale force wind, sending Nick flying into a nearby building, where he fell over loosely.  
  
    "Oww....?" Nick coughed a few times. "Kghh... can't say I was expecting to get such a beat down today..."  
  
    "If you'd just given yourself up quietly, we wouldn't have had to resort to such extreme measures," Fangmeyer hissed, continuing on him, brandishing the syringe. "Nonetheless, it will be good to be done with you."  
  
    Nick actually felt a surge of fear as the tigress approached. He placed his paws on the icicles and started to vibrate them as fast as he could. The cold spikes began to hiss and melt. Fangmeyer hastened her pace and violently drew back the syringe as she stood over him, a look of wild determination on her face.  
  
    TCHAKK!  
  
    Judy's kick shockwave made Fangmeyer stumble several steps to the side. The bunny yanked on Nick's arm to get him to his feet, then quickly pulled out the icicles in his legs.  
  
    "Ow! Jeez!" Nick hissed. Brittany followed the action, stunned into motionlessness at her seat, absolute horror clutching at her.  
  
    "HOPPS!" Fangmeyer bellowed. "What do you think you're DOING!?"  
  
    "I could ask you the same question!" Judy shouted at her.  
  
    "I'm FOLLOWING ORDERS!" Fangmeyer answered.  
  
    "Nick, get out of here," Judy tossed him a quick glance. "Now we're even."  
  
    "Gh- got it," Nick swallowed, took two steps, fell to a knee, then was gone.  
  
    "DAMNIT!" Fangmeyer reached a paw out, casting out tornadoes in various locations, trying to wall off his escape, but it was no use; he was already gone. "Damnit! Damnit damnit _DAMN IT_!" She threw down the syringe violently, where it broke unceremoniously. There was no liquid in it. Fangmeyer reared back, unleashing a long scream that transformed into a petrifying tiger roar. "We _almost HAD him_!"  
  
    With another gesture of her paw, a burst of wind kicked the bunny over to the tigress, and she clutched up Judy by her uniform, holding her up effortlessly. Brittany let out a whimper, barely getting to her feet.  
  
    "Bogo will wish to debrief you," Fangmeyer said in a terrifyingly even voice before dropping the bunny. Her head snapped over in Brittany's direction, where her very gaze made the vixen's legs feel weak all over again. "You too."  
  


* * *

  
    The bunny and vixen found themselves in Commander Bogo's office. His eyes were closed, and he rubbed at his temples with one finger of each hand. He looked at them dully. Looks of muted anger were on both of the females' faces.  
  
    "I don't even know where to begin with you two," Bogo murmured, "that was perhaps the most spectacularly botched operation I've ever had the misfortune to be a part of. You were  _just_ supposed to put out a fire, Ms. Voxen."  
  
    "Yeah, about that..." Brittany growled at him, seething.  
  
    "Watch your tone," Bogo commanded, then turned his attention to Judy. "May I ask what you were thinking when you attacked Fangmeyer, Hopps?"  
  
    "That she attacked me first?" Judy spat back. "I thought she'd lost her mind, trying to stab Nick with an empty syringe and all that. What was  _that_ about?"  
  
    "Those were her orders," Bogo enunciated in a deep tone, gripping the desk with both hands.  
  
    "Mind filling me in, then?" Judy folded her paws tightly. "Maybe there wouldn't have been this gigantic failure to communicate if _'someone'_ would actually _communicate_."  
  
    "One more sass like that and you're _out_ , Hopps," Bogo said meticulously through his teeth.  
  
    "Okay then," Judy returned, not a speck of fear in her eyes, "I guess you'll just need some  _other_ super-powerful bunny to take care of Nick."  
  
    Unexpectedly, a look of fear struck Bogo's face. He moved his head back slowly as he straightened up in his chair, jarring both females from their anger and sprinkling it with confusion. He regained control, a look of tiredness in his eyes as he let out a very, very long sigh.  
  
    "Well, I suppose it can't be helped," Bogo groaned.  
  
    "Is there an ulterior motive for capturing Nick?" Judy narrowed both eyes.  
  
    "Indeed," Bogo said, pausing before slowly continuing. "We need him for an... experiment."  
  
    "What!?" Judy looked both confused and disgusted.  
  
    Bogo pulled up some schematics and displayed them on the wall's screen; it was meaningless garbled text to both females.  
  
    "Red fox genetic structure," Bogo pointed at the display. "Their structure in particular is conducive to housing the code that contains empowered abilities. Often, a red fox can even have multiple powers, like mister Wilde does. Doctor Badger has speculated that new powers could even be introduced to a red fox, transfused with careful application of this knowledge."  
  
    "Wh-what!?" Brittany yelped. "Do you mean to say...? Is that why I also have ice powers?"  
  
    "We will _get_ to that, Brittany..." Bogo grumbled.  
  
    "Wh-what were you even planning to do!?" Brittany felt seized with fear. "Construct some sort of- some sort of red fox super soldier!?"  
  
    Bogo looked completely blindsided by the question. "What!? No! Don't be ridiculous! What are you talking about, Brittany!?"  
  
    "Then why?" Judy asked with her arms held out in front of her. "...Wait, did Nick really hurt Skye?"  
  
    "No," Bogo said calmly, frowning seriously, but his face softening into sadness. "...but that's what this is about."  
  
    Brittany felt a question bubble up in her throat, but it died along with any thoughts she was currently having.  
  
    Bogo clutched his hands into fists. "If Mr. Wilde would just have submitted to one or two experiments, we wouldn't have to be in this situation."  
  
    "I dunno, what you are describing sounds pretty... I dunno, terrifying?" Judy shrugged. "Deranged, even?"  
  
    "This is for Skye!" Bogo roared. "She was hurt; that was  _my_ fault. If we could... if we could just even obtain some of Nick's _blood_ , it might even be enough to come up with the organic code necessary to trigger his abilities in Skye. Or even just the important one... his _self-_ _healing_."  
  
    The bunny and vixen were stunned into silence.  
  
    "That's all this is about," Bogo said quietly, looking glum again, his hands open. "I just want to help Skye. I want her to be free of the pain I helped cause her." Not knowing what to think, Brittany felt herself on the verge of tears again.  
  
    "You keep saying that," Judy swallowed. "But... if  _Nick_ didn't hurt her, who _did_?"  
  
    Bogo was silent for a long time. "His name is Jack Savage."  
  
    Judy and Brittany looked at each other. The name was foreign to them.  
  
    "He's a rabbit of extreme potency and ability," Bogo said, a grim, serious look hardening his facial features. "He has the power of gravity manipulation. When I first took him into the ZED, he had no control over it. He kept accidentally reducing gravity around him and floating helplessly into the ceiling, or increasing it and becoming unable to move. It was pathetic, and in that, I saw his hopelessness,  _and_ I saw his potential."  
  
    The ladies continued to be quiet as they waited quite a long time for Bogo to continue.  
  
    "So, I told him about his abilities," Bogo muttered. "I told him how to control them and in every single way he could use them. He was without a doubt the single most powerful ZED Enforcer we ever had. But, with that power..." Bogo grumbled and looked almost completely empty. "He decided he'd just take anything he wanted, and crush those that got in his way."  
  
    Brittany let out a strangled gasp.  
  
    "Once he'd made an example of Skye, he simply wrecked the west wing and left," Bogo said. " _He_ is the Crushing Pall. A sphere of heavy gravity surrounds him at all times, nullifying just about any attack with mass. He decided to tour the world; see if anything in it could possibly pose him resistance. I suppose that's the problem; he got  _bored_ of us. However, he said he'd be back one day to 'finish what he started'. It's been many years since then. I had hoped someone might have killed him, but Kain insists he's still alive, and he seems to be getting closer to Zootopia every year."  
  
    Judy was unsure of what to say. "Maybe if you'd- maybe if I knew about this, I could have gotten Nick to give up some of his blood for us?"  
  
    "Your reaction to the reality of my plans tells me you might not have been so agreeable to that," Bogo said gloomily. "Especially since the ZED is so 'moral'. We can't go tainting the public view of us, now can we?"  
  
    "So that's why Fangmeyer was stalking me," Judy muttered.  
  
    "Indeed," Bogo sighed. "She was there when Savage attacked, so I trusted her the most with that assignment."  
  
    "That's it, then, huh?" Brittany piped up, equal parts angry and hurt. "You don't trust me, is that it? That's why you never told me I also have ice powers?"  
  
    "I never said you didn't," Bogo frowned. "And, to be fair, you do  _not_ have multiple seperate powers. I've even told you what you are on more than one occasion. You are a thermokinetic. As you may recall from your studies, temperature is a spectrum. It does not go from 'fire' to 'not fire'. You could chill something-  _anything_ you wanted. To be honest, your powers... they gave me a lot of pause. Your powers over cold could prove to be even deadlier than that over heat."  
  
    "You don't trust me, then," Brittany wiped some tears out of her eyes, though she wasn't sobbing. "Even though I've done nothing wrong...!"  
  
    "Neither had Savage, until he _did_ ," Bogo replied.  
  
    "That's not fair!" Brittany shouted. "How is that even remotely fair!? I'm not Jack Savage! I'm not just gonna- gonna suddenly start killing mammals!"  
  
    "You'll pay for underestimating me," Bogo deadpanned.  
  
    "Wh-what?" Brittany's tears seemed to halt in the corner of her eyes.  
  
    "That's what you said, isn't it?" Bogo said, a look of sorrow on his face. "Remember, we watched that whole thing from your point of view."  
  
    "I... but... Nick-" Brittany shuddered, sobbing.  
  
    "I hate to say it, but I agree with mister Wilde there," Bogo shook his head. "Clearly, I still have much to teach you before considering that you ever become an Enforcer."  
  
    "Don't worry," Brittany shot up, an expressionless look on her face. "You won't have to worry about that. I'm _never_ going to. I'm leaving."  
  
    Bogo's eyes opened fully, and he looked somewhat shocked.  
  
    "Brittany!?" Judy gasped. "What do you mean, 'leaving'?"  
  
    "I'm going to go home," Brittany said coldly. "I can't be here. Not when my 'leader' doesn't even trust me. Not when he was so scared of my abilities that he didn't even- he didn't tell me about them- gh- until I nearly _killed_ innocent people with them."  
  
    "...We've all made some mistakes," Bogo took an unsteady breath. "But we can persevere. Hopps, Ms. Voxen- Brittany... I'm not going to punish you for anything that happened today. To be fair, the miscommunication is on me."  
  
    "No, I can't-" Brittany's eyes lined with tears again. "I can't do this. I just want to go home. I just want to be with my family. I've been here half as long as I've been alive. I barely have any memories of my home... my parents. And for what? I've wasted nearly my whole life and I still don't even feel safe with the powers I have?"  
  
    "Brittany..." Bogo reached out with a hand to her. "I'm very sorry, just please take a moment to-"  
  
    "No!" Brittany stood up and made for the door. Her head snapped back and her eyes locked on Bogo's. "I'm just  _sick_ of this! You said you had more to 'teach me'? Well, I think I need a better 'teacher' than _you_."  
  
    Bogo was silent. He faintly nodded. With a trembling huff, Brittany opened the door to the office.  
  
    "Commander Bogo!" Judy gestured frantically to the retreating vixen.  
  
    "She's right," Bogo said darkly. "You do deserve better than me. You all do. I meant to make things right, and yet it's all come back down on us. I don't even know how we'll be able to deal with Jack Savage, should he return."  
  
    "You'll think of something," Brittany spat bitterly. "After all, your other plans have worked out _so well_." She didn't wait to see the two mammals response to this, and rushed away.  
  
    Brittany stormed off the ZED compound. She was surprised when no one stopped her. She got some blank stares, and was fully expecting to be stopped by security, but they nodded, saying it was fully within her rights to leave. A stray thought made her mentally beg Skye to be awake until she got out of her astral projection range.  
  
    The fox couldn't fly. She did try, but her emotions were so frozen that she couldn't even make a spark of fire. She looked at the wand in her hand and almost threw it away in disgust, but something made her keep it. Brittany knew she had a very long walk until she could even catch a bus to near where she'd been, to near where her parents' place was.  
  
    She closed her eyes, cold tears leaking from them. Her heat vision was also useless, she couldn't desire the heat, or whatever nonsense Commander Bogo had tried to teach her. A shiver struck her body. Though the sun had set, it was still a pleasant, if slightly humid night, but Brittany could see her misty breath. It was so cold.  
  
    "I'm kh-coming home, Mom, Dad..." Brittany whimpered weakly.


	8. Consumed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: May contain themes unsettling or disturbing to some.

    It was well into the evening before Brittany emerged from the subway station closest to her parents' apartment. As she walked down the street, she looked over at where she'd just been. There was very light damage from the minor cataclysm she'd caused; it was only thanks to Judy and Nick that it hadn't been much worse. The young vixen sighed and shook her head. The cold, stony feelings of indifference and hurt she had felt turned to bristling nerves as she got closer and closer to her parents' apartment building.  
  
    She couldn't have been exactly sure which floor they were on, but she made her best guess. She had her eyes shut on the way up, trying fervently to summon her heat vision. Desperation and fear lit her inner fire again, allowing her heat vision to turn back on. It was strange, though; fuzzy, like an ancient TV program with bad reception. It took her extra focus to narrow in on the appropriately-shaped forms, and they didn't come into full view. Brittany hoped they hadn't gone to bed yet.  
  
    After an inordinate amount of concentration, she was able to confirm that the elevator was going up too high, and-  
  
    Brittany gasped so hard she choked, her eyes snapping open. She stood still in the elevator as it opened to the wrong floor, frozen in place metaphorically, but she also felt a literal chill. Very slowly, she pressed the button two floors down, a small bit of frost appearing on the button as she touched it. When the elevator door opened, she started walking forward, as if in a daze.  
  
    Her footsteps felt cold and ponderous as she walked forward. She was chilling the very carpet she walked on, which tried to stick her feet to the fibers of the surface, as if begging her to slow down. Yanking her feet from the carpet with sudden anger and purpose, the ice was quickly scared away, and the temperature in the surrounding hallway quickly warmed up at least twenty degrees.  
  
    Finally, Brittany stood in front of her parents' apartment door. Her eyes closed tightly as she confirmed that this was indeed the case, her heat vision springing to her far too easily this time, and giving her far too much detail.  
  
    "Gh!" A snarl formed on the vixen's muzzle, and her fist slammed the door firmly three times.  
  
    No response for several seconds. Brittany stared lasers into the peephole.  
  
    "Who's that?" Asked a small, unfamiliar voice from within.  
  
    More quiet.  
  
    Brittany pounded the door five more times, making an angered slurping sound and withdrawing her paw. She shook it violently as she noticed that fire was forming around it, even though she didn't have her wand present. She managed to put it out, barely.  
  
    The door slowly opened, revealing Brittany's father Nigel. He now wore glasses, and he looked surprised, but bore a smile.  
  
    "Brittany, honey!" Nigel said. "What a surprise to see you!"  
  
    Brittany gave him an incensed glare and shoved past him.  
  
    "Ah, do come in," the older tod said hesitantly.  
  
    "Brittany, oh my goodness!" Delilah said, her expression a little more troubled. "Just look at you! You're an adult now, aren't you? Just turned eighteen-"  
  
    "Where is she?" Brittany's question came out more like a statement. She squinted her eyes shut for two seconds. "You  _hid_ her in your room? Are you kidding me!?"  
  
    "Wh-what are you talking about, sweetheart?" Nigel blinked.  
  
    "Don't lie to me, you stupid _dog_!" Brittany exploded, both of her paws curling in on themselves, hazes of heat appearing around them. "How  _dare_ you!?"  
  
    "Buh-Brittany, what's come over you?" Nigel took several steps back fearfully.  
  
    "You're a _liar_!" Brittany screamed, tears forming in her eyes. "You told me you could never replace me! That's what you _said_!"  
  
    Delilah placed a paw to her mouth in shock, looking at her husband.  
  
    "Brittany, just please calm down," Nigel held both paws up close to his chest. "There's nothing to get so worked up about-"  
  
    Brittany's breaths became even more unsteady, wisps of fire seeming to fade in and out of existence around her paws. "Don't lie- STOP _LYING_ TO ME!"  
  
    There was a terrible silence where Brittany's parents stared at each other.  
  
    "I told you it was a terrible idea, Nigel...!" Delilah said in a frightened voice, backing up against the wall.  
  
    "What were we supposed to do?" Nigel hissed. "What  _could_ we have done? You see how she's taking it!"  
  
    A door slowly squeaked open, and out came a vixen child, about seven or so. She looked to the scene with confusion and fear.  
  
    "What's going on?" The young vixen asked, her eyes wide. "Who's this angry fire fox?"  
  
    "Kuh...!" Brittany exhaled in half-disbelief as her eyes made real what her powers had told her. Hot tears bubbled in her eyes as she had no control over the flames dancing around her.  
  
    "Kinsey, oh God!" Nigel yelled to her, waving his paw at her. "Go back to the room! Hide!"  
  
    "Wh-what?" Kinsey looked to the older vixen, whose breaths were coming in heaves. The small fox's paws drew close to her chest as she took in the intimidating sight.  
  
    "Yeah, who am I!?" Brittany bellowed, making Kinsey flinch in terror. The fiery fox clenched her fists, but heat continued to pour into her surroundings, creating the sense that in mere seconds, everything around her would burst into flames. "Who  _am_ I, 'Nigel'? I'm nothing to you!"  
  
    "Please, just go, Kinsey, go back to our room," Delilah said morosely. Sensing danger in the profoundly odd situation, Kinsey obeyed her mother after giving the fiery vixen a last, scared look.  
  
    "She was a surprise to us, Brittany," Nigel said in a hoarse, pleading voice. "We didn't even- really intend to have her!"  
  
    Brittany felt herself losing control. Labored breaths actually sent bits of fire out of her mouth; quite an unpleasant feeling.  
  
    "Kinsey, huh?" Brittany hissed. "Nice name. ...Can't believe it. Can't believe you never told me I had a sister. What's wrong with you...?"  
  
    "I just knew you'd react like this..." Nigel closed his eyes. "That's why I didn't want to tell you..."  
  
    "Oh, so you were afraid I'd burn something down again after all, huh!?" Brittany thrust her arms down, and little bits of the carpet and furniture around her did actually start to catch fire. "You never forgot that, never ff-forgave me!"  
  
    "That's not true!" Nigel plead. "It's complicated!"  
  
    "You  _pawned_ me off to the government," Brittany growled in a hateful voice, "just so you could have a 'normal' kit and a 'normal' life, and left me all alone!? You _DISGUST ME_!"  
  
    Her last shout sent a heat burst out from her body that started catching more and more of her surroundings on fire.  
  
    Brittany's parents stood frozen as their apartment near the doorway was walled off with flames, making escape impossible.  
  
    "This is it..." Nigel had a sickened, twisted look on his muzzle. "These are the dues I've sown..."  
  
    Delilah wailed, dropping to her knees. She raised her muzzle heavenward and wailed. "Please, Gods and Goddesses. Please be merciful to us for our errors, and don't condemn the innocent among us."  
  
    "You think- you think I'm going to hurt you!?" Brittany shouted, her voice cracking. "You think I'm gonna- gonna  _kill_ you...!?"  
  
    Brittany started sniveling and crying. She looked at the fire starting to consume the apartment and was struck with sudden hopelessness. It was happening again. She destroyed her family's house once, and she was about to do it again, and this time there was no way out. She started breathing slowly, in and out. She focused on the feeling of emptiness, of hopelessness, of solitude. Any cold feeling she could grasp onto.  
  
    The vixen started waving her paws around, small jets of cold mist spewing from them. With a tight frown on her face, she consumed each fire she'd created, and while there was some obvious scorching to the carpet and some of the furniture, the fire was soon completely removed.  
  
    "What...?" Nigel blinked. "I didn't know you could do that..."  
  
    "You don't know me at all..." Brittany muttered in a voice both hollow and cold. "You don't care about me at _all_..." she whimpered pathetically.  
  
    "Brittany," Nigel swallowed. "C-could you just give this some time? We could process this together, and..."  
  
    "No," Brittany glared at them each in turn. "I never want to see you again. You hhhh... you have your own life now. I see you don't want me in it."  
  
    Brittany stormed out of the apartment and shut the door, which seemed weakened from the damage it had sustained. She thought she heard her mother start wailing, but she ran for the elevator and tried to drown it out with her own sobbing.  
  


* * *

  
    Brittany didn't even remember when or where she fell asleep. She had a vague memory of ducking into an alley, sobbing and cursing to herself. She shivered, but she felt overheated. Feelings of hot and cold swirled within her until nothing remained, and in that void, she lost consciousness.  
  
    Her dream was not pleasant, though not explicitly terrifying.  
  
    The dreamscape was one of deep purples and blacks. It didn't look like anything she had encountered, some sort of city, establishment, or even planet that was foreign to her. When she attempted to move, she felt encumbered and like she was choking. She heard a low-pitched whine, like that of a vacuum, overhead the whole time, and the sky shone with too-bright stars. Throughout the whole experience she felt like someone was yelling. Someone, but she didn't know who.  
  
    But what did that even matter?  
  
    "Ngh!?" Brittany suddenly jolted into wakefulness in the alley, feeling tired, confused, and drained. Approaching her was a timber wolf, who looked down at her with a quizzical expression.  
  
    "Poor girl," the wolf said in a smooth voice. "What's a vixen like you doing sleeping in an alleyway?"  
  
    Brittany didn't respond, laying there with a dull look on her face.  
  
    "C'mon," he said, crouching over and grabbing her by the arm. "I'll let you stay at my place for the night."  
  
    "Nh-no, that's all right," Brittany tugged against him. The wolf's grip grew firmer and he yanked her to her feet.  
  
    "I insist," the wolf grinned. "It'll be fine, trust me."  
  
    "Let me go!" Brittany shouted, pulling against him, but his grip was too strong. Out of her ennui exploded a primal fear. With her free paw, she pulled out her wand. "I'm warning you!"  
  
    "Pff, what's this?" Her aggressor pulled it easily out of the tired vixen's paw with his other hand. "Ah, heheh... I bet I know what this is. Naughty girl. I can think of a few places to put this."  
  
    Brittany gasped in fear as he twirled the wand.  
  
    "Please don't, please don't do this," Brittany squinted her eyes shut and gave a heaving breath. No tears would come; she was just too empty. "Please don't make me do this...!"  
  
    "There's that fear," the wolf's voice darkened considerably, though he had a malicious smile. "Just hold onto that, I like the feistiness."  
  
    Brittany sucked in a hoarse breath. "This is your last chance..." Her voice wavered; it not sounding at all convincing.  
  
    "What was that?" The wolf huffed. "Are you threatening me? Adorable! The spunk kits have these days..." His tongue played across his muzzle in a perverse way.  
  
    "I warned you," Brittany glared at him, before screaming fiercely.  
  
    Even though she wasn't holding onto it, the wand spouted fire from the end pointed at the wolf. He shrieked in panic and dropped both her arm and the wand.  
  
    "Whaagh!?" The wolf yelped, the fire catching hold of his clothes and igniting. "You bitch!"  
  
    With eerie calmness, Brittany scooped up her wand. "That's 'witch'. You might want to stop, drop, and roll."  
  
    She wasn't actually as calm as she appeared, and the growing flames attested to that. The wolf kept yelling and cursing as he flailed around, trying to quell the flames.  
  
    Brittany decided to try to go somewhere with more mammals. The sun was just about to come up. She also wanted to get away from all the screaming.  
  


* * *

  
    The vixen couldn't concentrate. Not that she wanted to think too hard about anything that had just happened, but going twelve hours without a roof over her head, adequate sleep, or even a decent meal was supremely draining. She felt like if she slowed down her pace, she'd just break down crying anyway.  
  
    Brittany was trying to figure out what she was going to do about food. She had no money. Was she really just going to have to steal from somewhere? Hold them up with her wand and a readied fireball or ice shard? Feelings of shame overcame her; she felt like she couldn't do that.  
  
    Walking among the morning commute of mammals did put her mind slightly more at ease. No one seemed to care about her, but that wasn't anything new. At least no mammals seemed to care _too_ much.  
  
    Something caught Brittany's eye as she wandered aimlessly in the streets of Savannah Central. There was a poster advertising the Zootopia Aerospace Museum, featuring a big colorful advertisement for a new exhibit. "The History of Empowered Mammals!" it read.  
  
    The vixen scoffed, and something like spite drew her to read more of the poster. Not only was there free admission to the museum since it was government-owned, but apparently if you filled out some sort of survey about the new exhibit, you could obtain a voucher for a free entree at the museum's cafeteria. It sounded like as good an idea as any to Brittany, and she followed the signs to the museum.  
  
    Security stopped her on the way into the proud-looking building, a pig and a horse regarded her skeptically.  
  
    "What's that, missy?" The horse gestured at her wand.  
  
    "Oh, it's er, umh-" Brittany stammered. She pressed the button, extending it into a rod.  
  
    "What is that, a walking stick?" The pig asked. "Okay, c'mon through." They passed her through the security checkpoint, and she got in.  
  
    "Boy that is a shame," the horse wagged his head as Brittany walked deeper into the museum. "So young and already with somethin' like that?"  
  
    "Yeah, well this world ain't fair, Mark," the pig tut-tutted.  
  
    Brittany agreed with the sentiment, even though she had misled the two guards. She shrunk the rod into a wand and put it away, looking around the museum. She'd never been to the aerospace museum before, or any one at all, for that matter. Vehicles both massive and not-so massive hung suspended from the ceiling or placed on the floor, and it was nothing if not awe-inspiring. Were Brittany not exceedingly hungry, she might have liked to look at some of the exhibits in greater detail. Walking by a sign that declared "The Rabbit on the Moon", the first moon landing by lapines, she made a mental note to come back to that once she'd been satiated.  
  
    Though she didn't know what was going to happen to her next, she thought it would be good to just get her mind off things for a few hours. Though she'd be unavoidably thinking about empowered mammals again soon enough, she guessed.  
  
    "Pardon me?" She asked a hippo employee. "Which way to the empowered mammal exhibit?"  
  
    "That one's down on the end of the west wing," the hippo pointed. "Enjoy yourself. Take the survey for a free entree from the cafeteria."  
  
    "Thank you," Brittany nodded twice.  
  
    "Tch," a punky porcupine girl was gossiping to her hedgehog and chinchilla girlfriends as Brittany walked over to her destination. "Can you believe they actually approved this gaudy empowered exhibit?"  
  
    "Right?" The chinchilla scoffed. "So unscientific. Like, they still don't know anything about how they got those powers and it's all just wild speculation!"  
  
    "It's just cause they're so popular these days," the hedgehog flicked a paw casually. "You know how many views those empowered fights rack up. 'Specially between that bunny and fox!"  
  
    Brittany walked faster. She slowed when she came upon the exhibit.  
  
    The sign read: "Empowered Mammals: The One-Hundred Year Mystery."  
  
    Brittany felt mildly worried at what she'd learn, but she entered it anyway.  
  
    As it turned out, she didn't learn much. It was mostly things she'd been taught in her history classes. Still, she walked from exhibit to exhibit, taking in the short videos and testimonials of some empowered mammals. One hundred years ago, there were several unusual celestial phenomena; what appeared like colorful nebulae intersecting the earth's orbit, a meteor crash or two, and one year there was even what scientists believed to be a far-off supernova that sat in the sky like a second sun for a time.  
  
    Because there was little way to record sights and sounds in detail a century ago, much data had to be collected from eyewitness accounts and artists' renditions, though video existed of the sites of the meteor impacts. Brittany was mildly interested in this information, looking at what she could, trying to find something that would explain her powers, something to ground her.  
  
    Brittany sneered as the exhibit went to great length to venerate the Zootopia Empowered Department, painting them as heroes and saviors, the base of operations from where all earth's best empowered mammals distributed justice to evildoers. Brittany had been shown graphically that it wasn't as simple as that. At the end of the exhibit, she picked up a form and a small pencil and thought about what she wanted to say. There was so much she could go into. She thought they could use a segment on how hard it could be to be an empowered. How nothing is simple, and everything could be taken from you just because you had the wrong kind of powers.  
  
    She ended up just marking everything "good" out of "excellent" and put "It was a nice experience" under the additional notes section. She turned it in to receive her voucher.  
  


* * *

  
    Brittany involuntarily grumbled and grunted over the fish sandwich she was eating in the museum's cafeteria. Despite everything that had happened the day before, it was _delicious_. She actually didn't know if it was actually a really good sandwich, or if her hunger was clouding her judgement. Either way, she made short work of her food, sitting off by herself near the exit.  
  
    She saw the two security guards from earlier, presumably on break. Her curiosity caused her to try to eavesdrop on them, hoping they didn't suddenly suspect her for being a "runaway" empowered.  
  
    "You see the 'yote with the backpack half-full of pebbles?" The pig asked the horse.  
  
    "Yeah, I was thinking of kicking him out, but we got Don looking after him," the horse replied. "If the pup tries anything funny, he's gonna be flung out via elephant trunk, if you know what I mean."  
  
    "That's... Mark, that ain't a euphemism," the pig grumbled. "You didn't have to add that part."  
  
    Having finished her admittedly scant meal, Brittany decided to distance herself from those guards and move back to the other exhibits. She still kind of wanted to see the lunar exploration exhibit, so she went in that direction. The mood of the exhibit was enchanting and fantastical, and she hadn't realized that the rocket that took the bunnies up to the moon still had to be quite big. She was honestly enchanted by the exhibit; it served to put her dark thoughts off for the moment, and she made it into the end of the exhibit, where there were the space suits used for the moon exploration, as well as some samples of sand and even a rock or two from the moon.  
  
    She smiled at the space suits. Of course, there was no way she'd fit into one of the little bunny suits, and she even found them somewhat adorable. Her head strayed off to the side as she found herself looking at a coyote that came up beside her. He seemed to be about her age, though it was hard to tell, what with coyotes being taller than foxes anyway. He grinned at the exhibit, looking intrigued and charmed. He was wearing a backpack.  
  
    Feeling discomfort, Brittany decided to move to leave, but something made her hang near the exit and observe the coyote.  
  
    Without warning, he took off his backpack and started smashing it repeatedly into one of the cases containing a moon rock. Brittany was shocked and other mammals started gasping and backing away, but stranger still, the tempered glass appeared to be actually giving way. Subconsciously, Brittany took out her wand.  
  
    KSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!  
  
    With a loud shattering of glass, the moon rock was exposed.  
  
    "Haha! Finally!" The coyote dropped his backpack and grabbed at the rock with both hands, almost reverently. "Yes! Finally!"  
  
    Brittany's eyes flew open. The coyote's fur seemed to bristle and even lengthen, the colors rippling and changing from muted, dusty ones to reddish, whitish, and black. Somehow, the moon rock was transforming him, and it even gave his eyes a red, almost glowing haze.  
  
    "HEY, CUB!"  
  
    Brittany gasped as an elephant thundered by her.  
  
    "What do you think you're doing!? This is a national treasure!" The elephant thrust out his trunk at the criminal.  
  
    "Hnh!" The coyote dashed backwards, unusually quickly from the slight motion, and it appeared like he briefly left an afterimage from the dash. "I'm taking my birthright, Terran!" The coyote clutched tightly onto the moon rock, and his backpack exploded, the pebbles inside it ripping it apart from innumerable angles. The pebbles formed themselves into a small boulder and with a gesture, the boulder shot into the elephant's midsection.  
  
    "Oof!" The elephant reeled back a step, but then took out a communicator. "We've got an empowered criminal! Repeat, empowered criminal! Do not engage! Notify the ZED!"  
  
    Screaming and hollering prevailed as mammals rushed to escape the coyote, and the room nearly cleared out. Brittany, however, remained behind, her wand in her paw.  
  
    "Hello," the coyote's body hung forward a bit as he greeted the only mammal to not fear him. "My name is Lyle Canston. You...?"  
  
    "What are you doing with that moon rock?" Brittany dramatically pointed at him with the wand.  
  
    "I am a child of the moon!" Lyle boasted. "Just as the moon is a child of the earth..."  
  
    "So the earth is your... what, grandmother?" Brittany cocked an eyebrow, looking confused.  
  
    Lyle cackled. "I felt this rock calling to me. My true powers over stone would never have developed with just regular Terran rocks. I needed a rock suspended by the void to unlock my true potential... yes, this is my calling, my destiny!" He laughed, but it segued into a chilling howl.  
  
    "Ah, so you're a lunatic," Brittany quipped.  
  
    "Yes, you could say so!" Lyle nodded feverishly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I wish to experiment with all the ways in which my powers have improved. Good day, madam!"  
  
    "Not so fast," Brittany stoically swiped her wand and extended it into a rod, and with a crackle, ice appeared at the tip, like a fancy crystalline spearhead. "You heard the elephant. That rock isn't yours."  
  
    Lyle grinned darkly, showing all his teeth. "A fellow empowered... well, you know what they say. When two empowereds' eyes meet, they have to test their skill in battle together!"  
  
    "That's not a thing," Brittany grumbled. She kept firm grip on her emotion to increase the size of her ice spear. "But if you want me to relieve you of that rock by force, I can do that."  
  
    "Now we're talking!" Lyle hollered, grasping the wrist of his hand that was holding the rock. The pebbles swarmed around him. "Guess I'll get to test my powers after all!" With a howl, all of the rocks shot at Brittany.  
  
    Brittany tried to dodge and swiped at the incoming rocks with her spear. Some of the rocks impacted her, causing her to grunt in pain, but the ones her spear caught merely knocked the swarming rocks to the side and broke her ice.  
  
    "Looks like your attack is ineffective," Lyle grinned a manic grin, gesturing for his rocks to return. "Got anything better!?"  
  
    Brittany sneered, but tried not to let rage overtake her. She didn't want to set anything on fire. There was that expression "cooler heads prevail" or something. She tried to hold onto that, onto all of the cold hatred she'd felt. She reduced her rod to a wand, and gestured with it several times in the air. Many ice shards formed, and she threw them at Lyle.  
  
    "Haha! Here we go!" Lyle adventurously thrust out the hand containing the moon rock, and the pebbles swarmed the ice. The pebbles crushed the ice with their velocity, but were slowed down by their efforts.  
  
    Feeling a burst of confidence, Brittany gestured once, twice, and three times more, adding layer after layer of ice shards to the attack, slowly pushing the pebble storm back.  
  
    "No, impossible!" Lyle shook his paw, digging his claws at the moon rock. He seemed to glow again, and his eyes glinted red. The two seemed to be in a stalemate, and the pebbles started to push the ice into about the midway point between them. Brittany couldn't afford to drop her confidence, but she wondered whether the atmosphere would soon lose the humidity necessary for her to continue summoning ice.  
  
    TCHAKK!  
  
    A gray streak meteored into the center of the room, creating a dome-shaped shockwave. All the ice in the air shattered, and the pebbles harmlessly flew in all directions.  
  
    "Whoaa...!" Lyle staggered backwards.  
  
    "Judy!" Brittany's voice was surprisingly indignant.  
  
    TCHAKK!  
  
    Judy whipped around with a spin kick, sending a narrow crescent-shaped energy kick at Lyle. It snapped his hand back and he lost his death-clutch on the moon rock; it clattered across the floor.  
  
    "No!" Lyle shrieked as if the bunny had removed his arm. Judy pounced him, wrestled his arms behind him, and fit some adjustable cuffs onto him tightly. "No... nooo!"  
  
    "Hush, before you get a muzzle as well," Judy ordered with a sneer. When he didn't listen, he indeed got a muzzle slapped over his face.  
  
    "Judy, come on!" Brittany shouted. "I had that! I could have beat him!"  
  
    "Brittany, what are you talking about?" Judy glared at her. "You're not an Enforcer!"  
  
    "I know, but... just, ghhh..." Brittany's paw vibrated, and she angrily put her wand away. "I just... I just want to do  _something_ helpful! My life is- it's just so meaningless right now..."  
  
    "Brittany..." Judy's angry features softened. "Brittany, go home."  
  
    "I have no home!" Brittany shrieked tearfully.  
  
    "What?" Judy looked surprised. "Of course you do. At the ZED, with us."  
  
    "Tch..." Brittany's lips wobbled as she jerked her head away from her.  
  
    "Skye is worried about you, Brittany," Judy said plainly.  
  
    "Ggh, damnit..." Brittany threw a arm over her eyes. "Hhh-hhnn... you had to go there..."  
  
    "Just go home, okay?" Judy asked softly. "I'll take care of this guy."  
  
    A few hot tears fell to the ground. Brittany let out a heaving sigh. "Okay..."  
  


* * *

  
    "Brittany!" Commander Bogo's voice sounded surprised when she saw her enter the ZED's main lobby, a distant look on her face.  
  
    "Commander Bogo," Brittany replied vacantly.  
  
    The buffalo dropped to a knee and held his arms out.  
  
    Brittany felt her throat pinch, and she scampered over to him, dropping to all fours to expedite her journey before launching at him, hugging him tightly. Bogo carefully brought his large arms around the fox, who immediately started to sob.  
  
    "Brittany, are you all right?" Bogo asked quietly.  
  
    "No...!" Brittany quietly squeaked out.  
  
    A few of the ZED staff stopped to watch the moment, but Bogo's glances to them gave them other places to be.  
  
    "I... my family had another kit and didn't tell me," words started to pour from Brittany like rain. "This random wolf guy tried to attack me in an alley... nh," she sniffed, "and I tried to stop this coyote that was stealing a moon rock but Judy didn't let me-"  
  
    "It's all right, dear," Bogo said, just holding her while she wailed and wept for a moment.  
  
    "Yh... ngh..." Brittany pushed from Bogo a little. "Dh- did you know my family had another kit...?"  
  
    Bogo frowned a long line across his face, but nodded slowly.  
  
    "Ghhh!" Brittany started crying anew, weakly pounding his chest with her paws. "Wh- why! Why didn't you tell me?" Brittany gasped and choked. "...is she...?"  
  
    "She is empowered, as well," Bogo nodded. "That's how I knew."  
  
    "No... NO!" Brittany shrieked, coughing. "She can't even have a normal life?"  
  
    "Her power is psychokinesis," Bogo shook his head. "But her power manifests like a muscle. Without knowing she has it, and without intense training for months, or even years, she'd never be able to use it effectively. She can have a normal life."  
  
    Brittany cried for several more long moments, but sniffled and nodded. "Okay..."  
  
    "What can I do for you, dear?" Bogo asked tenderly, slowly releasing the hug.  
  
    "I'm..." Brittany hiccuped. "Kind of hungry..."  
  
    "We'll have Marvin prepare you a feast, then," Bogo said with a small smile.  
  
    "I was only gone a day..." Brittany mumbled.  
  
    "But it's been a trying one, from the sound of it," Bogo said. "Skye's been sick with worry and hasn't been able to sleep."  
  
    "I'm sorry," Brittany mumbled. "I'll go tell her I'm okay..." She started walking in the direction of Skye's room. "I, uh... you guys didn't clear out my room yet or anything, right...?"  
  
    "As you said, Brittany," Bogo gave a wry smirk. "You  _have_ only been gone a day."  
  
    Brittany let out a soft, tearful chuckle.


	9. Rekindling

    Brittany stood there in Skye's room, head bowed halfway, with Commander Bogo looming behind her. Skye lay there, the bedridden fox focusing her good eye on the newly adult vixen.  
  
    "Are you  _sure_ you're okay?" Skye asked through a strained voice.  
  
    "Yes Skye, I'm fine," Brittany's reply was barely above a whisper.   
  
    "It's just- I- you go running off by yourself..." Skye trailed off, "no one knew where you were! We'd just had that talk... I didn't know what to think."  
  
    "I'm okay," Brittany said in a flat voice, "I won't go running off alone anymore. I just- I needed some space."  
  
    "Perhaps why you went to the Aerospace Museum, mm?" Bogo offered from behind her.  
  
    Brittany's ears flattened and she turned her head to look at Bogo sidelong with a quizzical expression, upper lip curled.  
  
    "Just attempting to lighten the atmosphere," Bogo replied, his voice deep and even as ever. "What's important is that Brittany  _is_ all right and she is back with us now."  
  
    "I couldn't reach you with my astral projection or anything," Skye took a breath outward, it hitching a bit. "I kept calling out for you at the edges of my range, but..." Skye frowned. "After that, I couldn't sleep- I couldn't..."  
  
    "I'm sorry, Skye," Brittany said solemnly. "You can- try to get some sleep, okay?"  
  
    "All right, okay..." Skye barely nodded. "I'll just... try to rest. Good night, Bree."  
  
    "Night, Skye," Brittany's head tilted upward to look at her, and she could barely keep from flinching at the pained look upon her distorted face. Brittany hurried out of the room, with Bogo turning out the lights and shutting the door behind him.  
  
    Bogo looked down at the vixen; her pace into the hallway was aimless and random.  
  
    "Something the matter, Brittany?" Bogo asked.  
  
    Brittany paused and looked back at Bogo with her face scrunched a bit. "It's hard to even look at her."  
  
    "Oh, believe me, I know," he nodded.  
  
    "Am I horrible for saying that?" She held her paws close to her chest.  
  
    Bogo shook his head twice.  
  
    "...Thanks for, y'know," Brittany's shoulders jumped up and down halfheartedly, "uhm, covering for me, I guess. Not telling her all you could have, with what I did and all."  
  
    "Perhaps you could enlighten me on what you  _did_ do?" Bogo took a step toward her, hands behind his back.  
  
    "Well, c'mon, you know, don't you?" She looked up at the buffalo. "With your power sense and all? You could tell where I was, right? That's why you sent Judy after me?"  
  
    Bogo looked left and right, as if to check for eavesdroppers. "There are some... limitations to my power, mostly its reach. I have to concentrate to use it with any sort of range." He brought his hands together and expanded them slowly. "The more I concentrate, the greater the sphere grows, but it's a diminishing return; longer meditation yields more minimal results. As you can appreciate, I can't exactly do that all of every day. ...Though I did check on you, especially after you went back home. We received the call that Mr. Canston was attacking through more traditional means."  
  
    "Oh..." Brittany looked very uncomfortable.  
  
    "To that end, about the wolf that attacked you," Bogo pulled out a pad device and scrolled down. "I obtained word that a known wolf criminal was admitted to Zootopia Mercy General with minor burns. I'm assuming that was your doing."  
  
    The vixen winced. "Yeah."  
  
    "As long as he attacked first, I see no reason to chastise you for that," Bogo nodded. "Anything else?"  
  
    "How long..." Brittany bit her lower lip, but continued anyway, "how long have you known I had a sister?"  
  
    "Just a year or so now," Bogo sighed, rubbing his forehead.   
  
    "Oh, only that long," Brittany's voice wobbled as she scoffed, folding her arms.  
  
    Bogo held up a hand. "Please. I have been in contact with your family, asking them to let you know about that matter. I didn't think it would be good for them to hide it from you, and I once or twice tried to tell you myself, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. I am not your father, and I decided not to meddle in your family's affairs."  
  
    "Mm..." Brittany looked away.  
  
    "However, it's possible she'll live her whole life without knowing she has powers," Bogo gestured forward. "So there is that."  
  
    "I guess so," Brittany sighed. "My family's _here_ , anyway."  
  
    Bogo started to walk away. "I have some matters to attend to." He stopped halfway down the hall and looked back with a small smile. "I am... pleased to hear that you think that way, Brittany. Good evening."  
  
    Brittany barely smiled back at him as he left, waving a paw tentatively.   
  


* * *

  
    The sound of a news report caught Brittany's attention as she was walking through the lobby. Several of the TVs in the lobby were tuned into ZNN, and the scene switched from the anchors to the Aerospace Museum. Brittany gasped as she saw herself and that coyote Lyle Canston opposite each other, squaring off in that exhibit room.  
  
    "Hey hey, what have we here?" Callie walked up alongside Brittany, nudging her otter body against Brittany's leg as she folded her arms and settled in to watch the proceedings. "You're on TV, Brit?"  
  
    "Yeah..." Brittany's nervous expression showed several of her teeth. The angle of the shot was really low, and even though it was filmed in landscape, it seemed to have been done by an amateur with slightly unstable paws. "I didn't think there was anyone else in the room."  
  
    "Musta been a small mammal from the look of it," Callie gestured at the footage, "ferret, raccoon, heck, even an otter!"  
  
    Something about the dramatic angle and the look on Brittany's face at the museum caused her mild alarm. She looked so intense, so hateful. She didn't remember feeling such intensity, but the battle soon began, and ice and rock shards were flying everywhere.  
  
    "Damn, girl! That's badass!" Callie's eyes bulged and she blinked several times as if to reaffirm what she was just seeing, shaking her head. "Didn't you  _just_ figure out you had these ice powers? Like, yesterday?"  
  
    "Yeah, um," the vixen brushed a hand over her head. "Well it's just like controlling my fire power, but in reverse. The heat reacts to agitation, the cold reacts to calm."  
  
    "Just that easy, huh?" Unexpectedly, the otter's expression soured into a scowl. "Some mammals've been working on their powers for a long time, an' they still can't get them to do what they want. Or much of anything." A particularly large sigh made the otter exhale a few bubbles.  
  
    "Uh, sorry," Brittany poked her index fingers together and looked back at the TV. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't actually  _win_ that fight. Judy dropped in and 'saved the day'."  
  
    "Tsk," Callie sucked at her teeth. "It doesn't, really."  
  
    "Well, um," Brittany looked at her sidelong, "is it anything you wanna  _talk_ about... or...?"  
  
    " _Some_ mammals just don't go around tellin' their sob stories to everyone, okay?" Callie held up one of the paws she had folded, her gaze fixed on the TV. "I've got my pride."  
  
    Brittany didn't have a quick response for that. The video seemed to cut out right as Judy dropped in.  
  
    "Oh, there she is," Callie's good mood seemed to return. "That was like, six frames of bunny."  
  
    The words coming from the anchors on TV seemed to blur together as Brittany tried to wrap her head around the media attention on her. She wondered if her parents saw her on the TV. Probably not, she figured, they must have been dealing with whatever trauma Brittany put them through. Brittany frowned, feeling a sour squeeze in her stomach. She shook her head, rubbing her temples. Too much had happened.  
  
    "I actually have Judy Hopps right here!" A female correspondent's voice chirped up from the TV. Brittany opened her eyes to see an unremarkable-looking gray squirrel female.  
  
    "Is this live?" Brittany's eyes narrowed. "I feel like I just saw Judy."  
  
    "Doubt it," Callie shook her head. "Enforcers usually don't stay too long at the scene. That's what the Assistance is for."  
  
    "Enforcer Hopps!" The squirrel waved her paw. The televised Judy looked down to regard her with a grin. Lyle was seen getting taken away by Fangmeyer. "Amanda Fleetscurry. Could you tell us a little about this incident? We see this coyote, Lyle Canston, being taken away. What about the vixen? Was she an Enforcer?"  
  
    "Oh, crap," Brittany swallowed hard.  
  
    "Ah, no, that is not accurate. She is a  _member_ of the ZED," Judy nodded carefully, seeming to fight the urge to bend down to be on the squirrel's level. The bunny's smile widened and she slashed a forefinger. "In fact, she just so happened to be here at the museum, and managed to stall Lyle until I could arrive."  
  
    Callie smirked at Brittany, as if for confirmation.  
  
    "Basically true," the fox shrugged, feeling somewhat dizzy.  
  
    "This vixen exhibited ice powers," the squirrel said hurriedly, "is there any relation to that freak ice storm yesterday in Savanna Central? Eyewitnesses saw a similar-looking vixen in the vicinity."  
  
    "Nnhh...!" Brittany started to nibble at her claws.  
  
    Judy took a moment before responding. "The  _exact cause_ of that ice storm is still under investigation. The ZED-E does not speculate on open investigations."  
  
    Brittany released a huge breath she didn't know she was saving up. Callie tossed her head back, cackling.  
  
    "Haha HAAA!" The otter seemed to find this very amusing. "Look at that! You got  _the_ primo Enforcer, _Judy Hopps_ , coverin' for that big ol' fluffy tail of yours."  
  
    "I need some air..." Brittany moaned, slowly walking out of the lobby and into the plaza. Her thoughts were spiraling, almost out of control. She felt warm, she felt cold; she had no idea what the actual temperature outside was. She tried breathing slowly to calm herself, but she just couldn't stop  _thinking_ about everything. What was going to happen to her? What would she do next? What  _could_ she do?  
  
    She found herself staring at the monument at the fountain; at the monument of Theodore Standler. She wondered what sort of mammal he was; she'd never joined any of the regularly scheduled ZED trips to go meet him. She wondered if she should at some point. The statue had weathered very little over the time Brittany had been at the ZED; it was still regularly polished.  
  
    Brittany swallowed, letting the trickling sound of the water wash her billowing thoughts away. Her ear twitched and she heard a presence closing in.  
  
    "Skye...?" Brittany called out hopefully, her voice cracking in desperation.  
  
    "Not quite," Judy walked up next to her. "Something on your mind, Brittany?"  
  
    "Lots of things," Brittany mumbled, head sagging. "I don't even know where to start. So much has happened... I don't know what to do; don't know how to _feel_..."  
  
    "I know what you need," Judy tenderly placed her paw on Brittany's arm, looking up at her.  
  
    "Really?" Honest confusion blanketed Brittany's muzzle.   
  
    "A _break_ ," Judy huffed with a pinch of amusement. "You need a break. I need a break. It's been a busy couple of days."  
  
    "Yeah, that's true," Brittany sighed. "...What do you mean 'break', though?"  
  
    "Well, I'm off duty tomorrow," Judy held both hands out. "What say you and I go shopping? Just some girl time?"  
  
    "Really?" Brittany was hit by the seeming frivolity of the idea, but it welcoming. "That- uh, that sounds fun. Yeah, I think I'd like that."  
  
    "Nice!" Judy grasped at the air and put her hand close to her own chest. "While we're shopping, you can feel free to unload anything you want at me. Or nothing at all! Coming from a bunny family, I've heard  _so_ many stories and troubles from my siblings." She smiled, leaning up toward her. "And I'm not a therapist or anything, but I'm told I'm a good hugger."  
  
    "It sounds fun," Brittany repeated, nodding. "I think I should- just go lie down for now. Just uh- get with me in the morning?"  
  
    "Yeah!" Judy smiled. "We'll have lots of fun and get all of this mess behind us." Judy offered her paw for a high five, and Brittany awkwardly shook it, thinking she was holding it out for a shake. Judy giggled a bit at the addled fox, giving her an encouraging smile seasoned with a little pity. "Get some good rest, okay Brittany? Big day tomorrow."  
  
    "Hopefully not too big..." Brittany smiled weakly.  
  
    "Oh yeah... big- uh, hugely relaxing," Judy pointed at her. "I- uh, give me a good adverb here. Pleasantly...?" She sounded the last word out, looking quite adorable to the fox. Brittany blinked tiredly at her and waved weakly, heading back into her room.   
  
    Brittany's bed at the ZED had never looked so inviting to her. Well, almost never. She sloppily tossed several of her bird plushies on the bed, then collapsed into them. Sleep came very quickly for her.  
  


* * *

  
    The atmosphere of the mall was almost foreign to Brittany. Being the main mall in Savannah Central, so many different kinds of mammals were going their own way, minding their own business. The density was much thicker than at the ZED, yet Brittany didn't feel too worried. After all, one of the most powerful empowered agents in Zootopia was walking next to her.  
  
    "You havin' a good time?" Judy asked up at her.  
  
    "Mhm," Brittany nodded, though she wasn't quite smiling. "This is pretty fun."  
  
    "It's been a long time since I've just gone shopping," Judy said as she walked, "and I've never been out with just you. Well! We're fixing that today, aren't we?"  
  
    "Yup," Brittany bobbed her head again.  
  
    "Er, anything the matter?" Judy winced.  
  
    "Hey, Judy..." the vixen chewed on her bottom lip, "what did your family think about you being empowered?"  
  
    "Oh!" Judy's eyes opened wide, then she looked contemplative, tapping a finger on her cheek. "Well, they were surprised when I found out, of course. I'm the only empowered bunny in the whole litter! And there are a  _lot_ of us." Brittany turned her head over to face Judy, seemingly mildly interested in more information. "Ah, my parents were supportive of me using my powers for good. Maybe  _too_ eager to get me out of the burrow, though." Judy giggled hesitantly. "May have kicked one too many doors off their hinges. Accidentally."  
  
    "Yeah?" Brittany sighed. "At least they seemed into it. Do you talk to them a lot?"  
  
    "Whenever I want, really," Judy held up her phone. "Unless it conflicts with a mission or something. They're always talking about how proud they are of me. A lot of my siblings think it's cool what I can do." She scoffed in amusement. "Mostly my brothers. Kicking explosions and stuff, y'know how boys can be."  
  
    "I guess," the vixen puffed out a laugh that she didn't really feel, then looked into a medium-size clothes store. "Ooh, that looks nice."  
  
    Before Judy could see what she was talking about, Brittany had entered the store and was looking at a dress-skirt that looked somewhat like what she wore, but a bit longer and much darker in color, a nearly-black midnight blue.  
  
    "Uh oh," Judy smirked as she caught up, planting her hands on her hips. "You're not going through a goth phase on us, are you?"  
  
    "I dunno, I was just thinking," Brittany shrugged, looking over the clothes. "That moniker I get called... 'witch'. Kinda fits with my powers, huh? Maybe I should look the part."  
  
    "Oh, pff," Judy made a pushing off motion with both paws. "Don't let others define you. But if you  _actually_ want to have a 'witchy' sort of look, how about dark purple?" Judy rushed off to another display, pulling a similar dress up, but with a slightly shorter skirt and a lively purple motif. "Huh?"  
  
    "I dunno, it's kind of cute," Brittany looked down at it, smiling a bit. "Purple  _is_ kind of a witchy color, right?"  
  
    "Yeah!" Judy wiggled a finger. " _And_ you could accessorize with some orange or green to contrast. Probably green, 'cause your fur's already red-orange. Purple looks really good with the foxy oranges and browns!"  
  
    "I didn't know you were into fashion," the fox's smile grew broader as Judy ran her paws over some belts, clasps, and brooches, trying to find bits to match.  
  
    "I'm not, really," Judy shrugged, "I just know what I like looking at. I'm lucky, because gray and white goes with just about everything, so I can wear any ol' thing and look halfway decent."  
  
    Brittany giggled, holding the dress in front of herself. "What do you think? Maybe I can find some black and purple arm socks for this?"  
  
    "And a pointed hat?" Judy laughed. "We'd probably have to go to a different store for that."  
  
    Brittany wagged her head and her tail joined in, a half-smile on her face. "I don't want to look like I've just come from a costume party. Just... look cool and nice. And evocative of what I am."  
  
    "No need to get too serious about it," Judy looked at a few more dresses, "I wonder how much Bogo will let us get away with on our cards..." In Judy's peripheral vision, she saw an orange shape, and turned her head to look, gasping.   
  
    "Huh? What is it?" Brittany turned to look.   
  
    Judy stepped forward a few paces, seeing Nick Wilde among the crowd, of all mammals. By chance, Nick turned his head to look, his eyes widened, and he started to walk away, first slowly, then faster and faster, approaching supermammal speeds.  
  
    "Hey, wait!" Judy barely had time to call out at the entrance of the store. Nick kept his head down and his tie to his chest with a paw, but was gone before she could blink again. "Ugh, darn it."  
  
    "Was that Nick?" Brittany appeared alongside her.  
  
    "Yeah, I wanted to ask him a few things," Judy said, cocking her head. "Like what the heck he was doing with such an ugly outfit on. Lime green shirt and a navy blue tie? I guess he doesn't have anyone to dress him."  
  
    Brittany closed her eyes, interested to see if she could summon her heat vision. It came readily, but the concentrated bodies of so many different mammals assaulted her ability to focus. "Whoa... there are a _lot_ of people here..."  
  
    "Well yeah, it's a mall," Judy said, looking at Brittany and then doing a double take. "What are you doing?"  
  
    "Trying to see if I can see where the 'Hustler' went," Brittany said. "It's this heat vision trick that Bogo taught me. There's so many mammals, I can't really tell one from another- oh hey wait." She concentrated hard. "That one is moving faster than the others. Okay... got him, I think." She began to walk forward with her eyes closed.  
  
    "Whoa there, Brittany," Judy said, grabbing her by the wrist. Brittany opened her eyes and yelped as she was about to walk into a clothes display. "Guess that heat sight of yours doesn't see walls."  
  
    "It does not do that," Brittany affirmed, her tail twitching in embarrassment.   
  
    Following occasional uses of her heat vision, Brittany stopped in front of a male mammal mid-sized clothing store. "He's in here."  
  
    "In the dressing room?" Judy grew a bemused smile and went up to the door that Brittany indicated, knocking on it. "Nick? You in there?" She heard a small gasp.  
  
    "Jeez, Buster, how the heck did you find me?" Nick's voice grumbled from beyond the door.  
  
    Judy barked out a loud laugh. "Are you  _hiding_ from me?"  
  
    "I'm strategically waiting in here until I felt you were no longer around," Nick replied with a strangely confident voice. "Not up for a fight today."  
  
    "I'm not going to fight you in a _mall_ ," Judy held her hands out and shook her head. "Plus I'm off-duty. So I don't have to fight you anyway."  
  
    "Wow, I've never heard of a punch-clock hero before," Nick's voice had a sharp sarcastic edge.  
  
    "Nick..." Judy groaned. "I just wanna talk to you for a bit, okay?"  
  
    With an air of curiosity, Nick opened the door and slowly came out. Judy flinched, holding her paws up from the unexpected wave of heat that accompanied him.  
  
    "Whoa, you're hot!" Judy winced at the blast.  
  
    "Appreciate it," Nick smirked. "You're not so bad yourself." Brittany tried very hard not to laugh at that, catching a giggle in her throat.  
  
    "Idiot, you know what I mean," Judy grumbled.  
  
    "Yes, well, I almost caught my clothes on fire," Nick grumbled. "Hazards of rapid acceleration with clothes with no friction resistance."  
  
    "Can we talk somewhere private?" Judy's voice was quite earnest.  
  
    "No way, that's not how we do things," Nick shook his finger. "Out in the open. Food court."  
  
    "Okay, deal," Judy nodded.  
  
    "You actually expect him to meet us in the food court?" Brittany folded her arms, looking skeptically at the fox. "He'll just ditch us again."  
  
    "Trust is a two-way street, Brittany," Judy said sagely. "I will be the better mammal and take the first step."  
  
    "Wow," Nick rolled his eyes and flinched slightly as he saw Brittany. "Ugh, I see you brought the _witch_. Is she your new sidekick?"  
  
    "Hey, don't call her that," Judy scolded, pointing at Nick's nose. "Call her a.... mage, or something. Maybe sorceress? Witches do hexes and curses and stuff."  
  
    "I certainly wanted to curse when she  _impaled_ me," Nick sneered.  
  
    "Sorry," Brittany replied lamely. "It- uh... it didn't feel good to do."  
  
    "Well, you just hold onto that feeling," Nick frowned, pointing at her. "That's good. Don't get a taste for violence." There was a moment of awkward silence. "Anyway, meet me at the food court. Buy me a chicken sandwich or something."  
  
    "What?" Judy laughed incredulously. "Buy you lunch?"  
  
    "Hey, maybe it'll increase the likelihood of me showing up," Nick smiled pleasantly, eyes half-lidded.   
  
    "Fine," Judy rolled her eyes. "If he doesn't show,  _you_ eat it, Brittany..."  
  
    "Maybe we could get more than one?" Brittany said hesitantly as they walked out of the store. "I'm kinda hungry too..."   
  


* * *

  
    Nick was not modest or polite about eating his chicken sandwich.  
  
    "Mmh, oh, this is good," Nick said with his mouth full, pointing at the sandwich. "Thankoo."  
  
    "Yeesh," Judy said, eating gingerly from a salad. "Clearly whoever came up with the phrase 'eating like a pig' never saw _you_."  
  
    "I still can't believe he actually came," Brittany ate from her own chicken sandwich with much more reservation. "I thought he'd just split."  
  
    "So," Nick took a hard swallow. "Mm, that hits the spot. So what do you want to talk about?"  
  
    "You know anything about Jack Savage?" Judy asked, her voice dropping in volume.  
  
    Both pairs of fox eyes widened.  
  
    "Judy....?" Brittany said through her teeth. "Can you just  _talk_ about him?"  
  
    "I don't see why not," Judy shrugged.  
  
    "Oh yeah, bad news, that mammal," Nick sneered. "Had a few run-ins with him. He has crazy strong gravity powers. I wouldn't go up against him if I was you."  
  
    "Really?" Judy seemed interested, but less than concerned about the danger. She leaned in.   
  
    "Mm, I know just about everyone in this city, one way or another," Nick nodded diagonally, taking a more polite swig from his drink. "Savage was part of your guys. Before you, I'm guessing."  
  
    "Yeah," Judy nodded.  
  
    "I got this weird vibe about him from the first few times we met," Nick shook his head. "I felt like he was enjoying using his powers a little  _too_ much. Roughed up some petty criminal mammals more than necessary, I thought." Nick shrugged. "Figured your Chief ignored it because he got results. Ol' Bogo got his hands on a freakin' _wrecking ball_. The guy threw around even the largest mammals like paper dolls, and no one can get close to him. _Literally_."  
  
    "The ZED was after you at the time?" Judy inquired.  
  
    "No," Nick shook his head firmly. "I hadn't done anything close to illegal at that point. In fact, I approached Bogo at one point to  _warn_ them about Savage. Said he was likely to go off the rails. Guy seemed a few carrots short of a batch."  
  
    "I'm guessing Bogo told you to take a hike," Judy huffed, leaning in on her folded arms.  
  
    "Not exactly," Nick smirked. "He actually offered me a position with the ZED. I said no. I didn't want an 'organization' cramping me up."  
  
    "Just wanted to be free to do whatever, huh?" Brittany mumbled.  
  
    "To me it's better than having to follow orders all day," Nick grunted. "I'm my own mammal. I was just letting Bogo know as a courtesy. Y'know, that his hotshot was a loose cannon." Nick grumbled. " _Apparently_ , Savage somehow got wind that I'd ratted on him, then he started staging crimes to look like I'd done it."  
  
    "What?" Judy seemed incredulous.  
  
    "Well, just the one big one," Nick groaned. "This is a bit of speculation on my part, but there's no one else it could have been. He destroyed a wall of the Tundratown Bank in this very particular way so that it looked like it could have been done with my powers." Nick held his paws up and they vibrated so fast they caused optical illusions. "I can vibrate a wall down. He can just tear it away with precision gravity incisions or some nonsense. So, the bank was robbed, and I don't even know where Savage put the money. I certainly don't have it."  
  
    "So, he staged a crime and made you look like the culprit? How'd he get that past Bogo?" Judy seemed very skeptical.  
  
    "Heck if I know," Nick grumbled. "But Savage isn't some dumb bunny. Guy's very clever. I mean, Buffalo Brain has to sleep sometime, right? I don't expect you to believe me, but I didn't rob that bank. Of course, Bogo's gonna take the word of his right-hoof guy over some fox who doesn't wanna play ball with him. So now I'm his enemy. Even when Savage went off the deep end and skipped Zootopia,  _I'm_ still the bad guy somehow."  
  
    "Well..." Judy looked off into the distance, then back at Nick. "I know why we're hunting you, actually."  
  
    "Judy!" Brittany turned her head to the bunny. "Even if you trust any of this guy's- you can't seriously-"  
  
    "We need your blood," Judy said firmly.  
  
    "...Uh, sorry?" Nick blinked, surprised. "I'm kind of using it."  
  
    "Not all of it, dummy," Judy shook her head reprovingly. "Just a sample. One of ours was hurt when Savage exacted his little rampage."  
  
    "And that's in any way related because..." Nick narrowed an eye, gesturing with his fingers back and forth.  
  
    "She's a red fox," Judy said. "Well, with like, a pigment disorder, but that's her species. Bogo was hoping that by introducing some of your genetic code to her that she could be healed."  
  
    "By my abilities, huh?" Nick folded his arms, sitting back in his chair. "Well, to me, that sounds like Bogo's trying to create some sort of red fox super soldier. We're the highest concentrated species of power-bearers, right? Seems like an easy starting point to me if all of his red foxes could heal themselves." He nodded to Brittany. "So you'd be the proof positive, right?"  
  
    "What?" Brittany sneered. "Ew, no. I'm not going to get injected with your blood. That's disgusting."  
  
    "You say that, but that's the problem with being a part of an organization like that," Nick waggled his finger at her. "You have to follow orders."  
  
    "We  _can_ just leave," Judy said, looking at Brittany. "Y'know, if it's not for us. We can just go right out the door."  
  
    "Yeah, we can..." Brittany looked down. "But... it's better than being all alone." She gave a pointed glare to Nick.  
  
    Nick gestured at himself. "Hey, I have mammals. May not look like it, but I don't go parading them around at my side. Some mammals work with me. No one's really alone in this world if they reach out. Even if you get to leave, I'm guessing they make you sign some sort of non-disclosure agreements when you do, right? By the way, you must be absolutely  _shattering_ those, Buster Bunny."  
  
    "I'm just trying to do what's right, Nick," Judy said sincerely. "A vixen has been hurting for something like a decade because of an error in judgement. Bogo thinks you're the answer, and also thinks that you won't cooperate. He's just trying to right a wrong and take care of his own."  
  
    "Sorry, but the answer is no," Nick shook his head. "I am not going under the microscope on behalf of that stubborn buffalo. I'm not being anyone's test subject."  
  
    "Just a teensy bit of your blood?" Judy took out a syringe from her purse.  
  
    Brittany yelped. "You just  _have_ that!?" Nick's reaction was also one of muted horror.  
  
    "Always be prepared!" Judy chuckled, then looked seriously at her. "Plus, if it's our only chance at helping Skye, I wanted to have every opportunity."  
  
    Nick's expression was complete bafflement as he looked at Brittany, then at Judy.  
  


* * *

  
    Brittany walked through the halls of the ZED with Judy, shopping bag happily at her side.  
  
    "I think you'll look great in those," Judy smiled, almost skipping alongside her. "But don't neglect the pastels, either. I think they're in season." The two were surprised to see Commander Bogo, who was speaking to Kain the quokka. "Oh, there he is!"  
  
    "So, we have time," Bogo mused, looking down at the much smaller mammal.  
  
    "I'm not sure," Kain said worriedly. "All roads lead to the Crushing Pall's arrival, some quicker than others... it is erratic, but it is certain."  
  
    "Noted..." Bogo's attention turned to the two females. "Ah, Hopps. Ms. Voxen. Did you two have a pleasant day out?"  
  
    "Sure did," Brittany nodded. "I got a couple of outfits. I hope that's okay."  
  
    "Perfectly fine," Bogo nodded. Judy strode up closer to him.   
  
    "I have something for _you_ , Commander-Chief," Judy smiled, holding up a syringe filled with a deep red liquid.   
  
    Bogo looked more surprised than any mammal there had ever seen him; his eyes became pinpricks.  
  
    "Wh-what is that?" Bogo asked breathlessly. "Where did you get it!?"  
  
    "It's Nick's blood," Judy said proudly.  
  
    Bogo did not say anything for several seconds. His voice was barely above a whisper when he continued. "And... _how_ , may I ask... did you get that?"  
  
    "I  _asked_ for it," Judy beamed, offering the syringe.  
  
    Bogo stood up straight, like he'd seen a ghost. "Excuse me. Just one second." Bogo turned around and leaned against the wall, bracing on it with an arm, which he buried his face into.  
  
    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" The buffalo bellowed.  
  
    Judy's ears went back as a troubled expression spread across her face. Brittany yipped tersely at the loud sound.  
  
    Bogo slowly turned around, a much more normal expression on his muzzle. "There we are. Okay. Could you please get that to Dr. Badger, Hopps?"  
  
    "Of course! Heh heh!" Judy chirped nervously, heading off.  
  
    "Of all the..." Bogo shook his head.  
  
    Kain smiled in Brittany's direction, composing himself after the explosive shout. "I see both of your wings have unfurled."  
  
    "Tch," Brittany scowled. "Honestly, Commander, I don't see why you keep this guy around. All he can do is talk in metaphor."  
  
    "Kain is extremely useful," Bogo straightened up. "Don't disparage his abilities just because you don't understand them."  
  
    "I mean...!" Brittany shrugged her free shoulder. " _C'mon_! He said 'he wondered if I'd ever spread both of my wings' or something. That was about my 'ice wing', right? Well he didn't sound very  _sure_ about it."  
  
    "You  _can_ talk to me," Kain said glumly. "I'm right here..."  
  
    "Well?" Bogo said to Kain. "Tell her about your powers, then."  
  
    "My prediction wasn't sure because it  _wasn't_ sure," Kain shook his head. "It was the whiff of possibility."  
  
    "Ugh, of all the mumbo-jumbo!" Brittany stomped her foot.  
  
    "My power allows me to see the threads of possibility, colored through an obfuscating lens of dream-like imagery," Kain said timidly. "I cannot control what I see. Just that I see it."  
  
    "What kind of sense does that make?" Brittany demanded. "So you can see the future, but it's not useful because you have to make it sound so... so _unclear_?"  
  
    "Calm down, Ms. Voxen," Bogo held a hand out. "There's an explanation for his strange abilities, but the truth is almost as ridiculous-sounding. His powers work as they do because he is left-pawed."  
  
    Brittany's lip curled up and she tossed Bogo a look of complete disbelief.  
  
    "It's true," Bogo nodded, gesturing to his forehead. "In most mammals, right-pawed individuals are governed more by the left-hand logic side of their brain, and left-pawed by the right-hand creative side. Kain's abilities allow him to see almost infinite possibilities regarding the fates of individuals and those tied to certain objects through their scent, but that section of his brain cannot  _handle_ that much information. Instead, it translates it into things he has reference for, and since he's left-pawed, it comes out as unclear 'prophetic' imagery."  
  
    "So, if he were right-pawed, he'd be able to tell the future clearly?" Brittany grumbled.  
  
    "Yes," Bogo nodded. "And, in all likelihood, he would be completely insane."  
  
    "Lucky me," Kain chuckled nervously. "I'm only  _partly_ insane..."  
  
    Bogo frowned. "The worrying thing is... in no possibility that Kain has seen does Mr. Savage  _not_ return. Nothing can stop him, and the only one that can delay his advance is himself."  
  
    "...And when he finally gets here?" Brittany winced.  
  
    "There will be destruction, of that I am sure," Kain frowned. "But how much, I don't know. It's all so jumbled. There are so many factors. I've seen the battle like a war between legendary creatures over and over in my head. It turns out differently every time."  
  
    "And am I in it?" Brittany wondered.  
  
    Bogo's eyes widened, and he pointed sternly at Brittany. " _You_ will not be among those opposing Mr. Savage. In fact, I have to brief everyone on the escape and refuge plan I have for when he actually does show up. That will be tomorrow, oh nine hundred hours."  
  
    "Y-yes sir," Brittany nodded, and Bogo stormed off. She suddenly felt very alone in the hallway, despite the robed quokka to her side.  
  
    "Do we even have a _chance_...?" The vixen asked in despair, mostly to herself.  
  
    Kain turned his head over to Brittany, "looking" at her through his blindfold seriously.  
  
    "Bird With Differing Wings," Kain said solemnly. "You must fly, but not as a bird does. One wing held high, one wing down low..."  
  
    "Huh...?" Brittany looked at him with fear, but a touch of hope.  
  
    "...It's a scenario I've seen where the Crushing Pall is lifted," Kain frowned. "And that image prevails high over all. Please don't tell the Farseeker I told you that."  
  
    "O-okay, I won't," Brittany said, clutching her shopping bag closely to herself.  
  
    Soon enough, Brittany was all alone in the hallway. Feelings of dread nipped at her like cold teeth. She shrugged them off. There was plenty of time to worry about the interpretation of what Kain had said later.  
  
    She hoped, anyway.


	10. Incendiary

    It had been two weeks.      
  
    Brittany waited for the chime of the main elevator and stepped out onto the lobby floor. The big cheetah Benjamin Clawhauser saw her as she exited and came up to greet her with a charming wiggle of his fingers.  
  
    "Hello there, Brittany," Benjamin almost sang. "Where've you been adventuring today?"   
  
    "Level seven," Brittany responded, to Benjamin's immediate alarm.  
  
    "Uh, Brittany," the large cat's brown eyes darted back and forth to check for others around. He leaned down to Brittany and his voice dropped to a lower register. "Um, sweetheart, you can't just  _go_ to level seven whenever you want. It's kind of the point of it being a secret."  
  
    "Oh," Brittany blinked, "right. Sorry. Just wanted to get my mind off things. Level seven is amazing... like, it's  _really_ impressive."  
  
    "You think so?" Benjamin cocked his head. "It always seemed kind of spooky to me. Foreboding, even."  
  
    "Well you just have to turn the lights up a bit more then," Brittany smirked, looking a little cocky. " _No one_ has known about level seven until now?"  
  
    "Not exactly," Benjamin said, "it was built early on in the ZED's days, owing to its slightly... retro feel. Information on it was given on a need-to-know basis, and now, we all need to know. The only way you can get to it is with that secret elevator code and a couple of super-hidden trap doors throughout the facilities. The place is built to be Ragnarok-proof."  
  
    "And Commander Bogo had it built before he even knew there was anyone like Jack Savage?" Brittany was impressed, eyes wide.  
  
    "Yup!" Benjamin said enthusiastically. "Always pays to be prepared! By the way, I have to say that I like your hustle with the emergency drills we've been doing. Something about how you move and wave on the other mammals, loading up in the elevators in your assigned place, it's just... really impressive!"  
  
    "I'm trying to take this Jack thing seriously," Brittany frowned, folding her arms as her tail swished. "I've heard all these stories about how dangerous he is."  
  
    "A little bit of a contrast from our fire drills back in your school days," Benjamin gave a wide smile. "You basically sleepwalked through those."  
  
    "Well, I felt like I could just slurp a fire up and put it out, so I didn't see the point in  _running_ from it," Brittany held her hands out wide. She heard a chirping sound, and her ears flattened. She was starting to dread that sound. She fumbled with a pouch attached to the belt of her outfit and retrieved her phone, glaring at it. A muted growl leaped from her throat.  
  
    "Something wrong, Brittany?" Benjamin winced.   
  
    "It's just my parents," Brittany let a loud grumble loose. "They keep  _texting_ me all of a sudden. Over and over. 'Can we talk'? Stuff like that."  
  
    "And I guess you've been ignoring them?" Benjamin asked hesitantly.  
  
    "Of _course_!" Brittany shot a quizzical look to the big cheetah as if this was obvious. "Mr. Clawhauser, I've talked to you before about how... distant I've felt from my parents. And that's- that's  _their_ fault. They kept brushing me off when I tried to reach out. They kept sending me fewer and fewer messages." She snarled. "And that's because they had  _another_ little kit to worry about, and they never told me!"  
  
    "Oh, goodness gracious," Benjamin gasped.   
  
    "They hid it from me because they were  _afraid_ of me," Brittany held up a finger, shaking it, "they were afraid I'd get all mad and 'fiery' because they tried to replace me or something. Well... I did. But look at me now! Nothing's on fire. I'm in control. I'm _angry_ , but I'm in control."  
  
    "Uh huh," Benjamin nodded once, "you are in control. You're an adult now, Brittany, and you can make your own decisions. Such as whether to let them back into your life or not."  
  
    "WHY SHOULD I!?" Brittany bellowed, stomping a foot and thrusting her arms down. Her eyes got glassy and started to swim. "Why should I...? They never- they just never..."  
  
    Benjamin came forward and leaned down to hug Brittany. After a moment of standing there, she hugged back, sniveling. The two remained in the hug for a long time before Benjamin let up on it a little to look at her.  
  
    "They must have been afraid of how you'd feel about having a sibling," Benjamin said, patting her back and gently releasing her fully. "Here's the thing... you have a chance here to be a stronger mammal than them. They gave in to fear, which weakened them; it weakened your relationship with them. And that may very well be on them. But now they seem to want to reach out again, and you have the power to reject or accept them."  
  
    "I... I feel like just blocking them," Brittany glowered, but her frown couldn't keep its intensity, and she just looked glum and empty.  
  
    "I don't think you should," Benjamin shook his head. "Don't destroy a door you might some day want to open." He perked up a little, standing up straight. "If you don't block them, I'll give you a little something."  
  
    Brittany said nothing, merely fixing a confused glare on the cat as Benjamin dug in his uniform's pockets. The fox looked down at the cheetah's paw as it unfurled, then back up to his face.  
  
    "Starbits?" Brittany said with an annoyed huff, then an amused one, then actually laughed a little. " _Starbits_? You're gonna try to bribe me with candy? Like I'm still a kit?"  
  
    "Well, they weren't gonna be for  _you_ to begin with," Benjamin smiled with sneaky flair, unwrapping a cherry one and popping it into his mouth. He savored the candy with an "mm-mm". "I say you're never too old for something sweet! I've got an orange  _and_ a lemon one here. I know those are your favorite flavors. But... if you don't want them, I'll gladly eat them!"  
  
    "No, wait, ugh..." Brittany hung her head, holding out her hand. "Fine... I won't block my parents from my phone. But I won't promise I'll talk to them, either."  
  
    "That's fair enough!" Benjamin daintily set the candy pieces into her paw. "In your own time, Brittany. Some day you may feel like you want the healing that might come from talking more with your parents, even if it's just to yell at them. I think it's a road you shouldn't turn fully away from."  
  
    "Okay, Mr. Clawhauser..." Brittany grumbled in that familiar monotone "yes, teacher" way that the cheetah was so used to hearing.  
  
    Brittany groaned, squinting her eyes shut. She'd been bought with two pieces of candy. She looked down at them and ate them slowly, one by one. It  _was_ her favorite candy. She enjoyed the fruity tartness, then sighed, staring at her phone.  
  


* * *

  
    Another two weeks went by. While relaxing in her room, Brittany jerked when she heard a soft knock at her door. She set down her pad device and sat up on her bed.  
  
    "Who is it?"   
  
    "Skippel," a familiar, dry voice came back.  
  
    The vixen's brow and muzzle wrinkled in confusion. That was not a name she was expecting to hear outside her door.  
  
    "Come in, I guess?" Her shrug sounded in her voice.  
  
    The little lab arctic hare came in, her own pad at the ready.  
  
    "Something... going on?" Brittany's legs kicked off the side of her bed.  
  
    "Just wanted a status report on the Mark III," Karen Skippel walked with purpose over to the box Brittany kept it in. Opening it and retrieving the wand, she carefully inspected it, then took two fuel cells out of her lab coat's pocket and replaced the ones in the wand.  
  
    "The heck, Skip," Brittany half-frowned. "I still had over half fuel in each side. What gives? I thought the Mark III was your present to me."  
  
    "No telling what's going to happen with this 'Jack Savage' business," Karen explained, not even looking at Brittany as she tested the wand's weight. "I'm trying to keep everyone's gear close to one hundred percent readiness at all times." She extended and then quickly retracted the wand. "Hmm. Mechanism is holding up well, no loss in efficacy..."  
  
    "It's done just fine for me," Brittany's shoulders shrugged. "I have no problems with it."  
  
    "Wondering if I could make even more improvements for a Mark IV," Karen mumbled to herself, setting the wand back down. "The more complicated the features inside, the more things that can go wrong."  
  
    "I uh... I don't really think I need it to do anything more than it already does," Brittany smiled slightly. "Really."  
  
    Karen looked over at Brittany and her gaze froze on her. Brittany tilted her head as she felt like she was being analyzed.  
  
    "I'm not going to allow myself to remain idle," Karen said. "We always have to move forward."  
  
    "Pardon?"   
  
    "Mammals," Karen began, looking out Brittany's window. "We all move at different speeds, but we have to  _keep_ moving. No progress can be made if we don't move forward. Some mammals are faster than others. Some have more endurance. Some are more graceful on their feet. It stands to reason that even if one mammal makes their best effort, they might be passed up by a better one." Karen frowned, then nodded at Brittany. "But I don't care. I will keep moving forward. The day I stop trying to come up with ideas to make some uncomplicated little stick better for its user is the day my heart stops beating."  
  
    Brittany was baffled by this resolution, and her face showed it. "I- uh, I don't think it's really that serious. You don't need to be so stressed out over a 'stick'."  
  
    "But I am stressed out," Karen said bluntly. "A thorn in my foot. Hampers my stride forward. But I'll keep moving, because if I stop, more mammals will pass me up than if I kept moving. The pain will make each step all the more vital and meaningful."  
  
    "I don't mean to tell you how to feel," Brittany frowned. "But stress isn't good for you."  
  
    "I can't just will it away," Karen said firmly. "Especially not with this situation we've found ourselves in. I'll make stress my subordinate; I'll turn it into the oil that greases the engine that will keep the ZED running."  
  
    "Wow..." Brittany looked rather impressed, smiling broadly. "You're pretty cool, Karen."  
  
    Karen's brow raised. " _That_ , I have not heard before."  
  
    The door to Brittany's room knocked again, breaking her concentration before she could laugh.  
  
    "Come in?" She asked.  
  
    "It's me," Commander Bogo said, peeking into the room. He gave a slightly troubled glance over to Karen. "Skippel, you must either  _tell_ me where you're going or be sure to check your devices. You are aware I cannot sense non-empowered mammals."  
  
    Karen looked at her pad and saw several unread messages. "My apologies, Commander. Do you need me for something?"  
  
    "Yes," Bogo responded. "We appear to be having some troubles with the- ah, the medical simulation regarding the serum."  
  
    This got Brittany's attention, and she looked with a worried hope at Bogo.       
  
    "There shouldn't be any problems with the simulation," Karen explained. "I wrote it and triple-checked every one of the details."  
  
    Bogo shut his eyes for three seconds to find a speck of calm to snatch from the air and coat his voice with, and then opened his eyes. "I'm aware of that, Skippel. Would you  _please_ come down to the lab and check  _our_ work to make sure  _we_ haven't committed any errors?"  
  
    "Certainly, Commander," Karen nodded, quickly vacating the room.  
  
    Commander Bogo released a long sigh, then he looked at Brittany. She slightly nodded, knowing she probably shouldn't press the issue.  
  
    "Brittany," Bogo said in monotone, "you have some visitors."  
  
    "I've been having a lot of those today," Brittany huffed.  
  
    "In the lobby," Bogo said. "It's your family."  
  
    Anger flashed like lightning onto Brittany's face. She launched off the bed. "WHAT!? Bogo!"  
  
    "I did not tell them they could meet you," Bogo said down at her calmly, tiling his muzzle upward a few degrees to look authoritative. "I only said I would talk to you."  
  
    "You let them into the ZED at all!?" Brittany fumed, spreading her arms out wide. "They're not- they're not really my _family_. Not after what they did. I'm an adult now- you can't- you don't have to let them into the compound anymore, right!?"  
  
    "Correct," Bogo said, folding his arms behind his back. "If you'd like, I can ban them from ever returning to the ZED again. You can choose to disown yourself from them, if you'd like."  
  
    "Okay, and how do I do that?" Brittany snapped.  
  
    " _Or_ , you could attempt to act with some semblance of actual maturity and talk to them," Bogo said darkly down at her. "Either that, or leave them hanging in the lobby until visiting hours are over. Your call."  
  
    Brittany's muzzle dropped open. "You..." She thrust her arm at Bogo. " _You_ have a lot of nerve trying to tell  _me_ what to do!"  
  
    "You believe so?" Bogo said with dangerous levity.  
  
    "Yeah!" Brittany growled, showing her teeth. "If I was gonna be like you, I should- what, actually _do_ that, right!? Just leave them there, hide from them, not  _tell_ them what I was gonna do until it was too late!"  
  
    "I understand your anger," Bogo said slowly, "but I suggest you change your tone. I have made mistakes. Grievous ones. Your parents have made mistakes. Ones that were unfair and harsh to you. _However_. I am attempting to learn from my errors. I have prepared this facility as much as possible for the danger I once tried to hide and discredit. Your family is trying to reach out to the one that they know they hurt. Would you  _also_ like to make a mistake that you will sorely regret later? One where you later attempt to salvage the pieces of a situation that you caused to break, knowing full well you could have easily avoided it?"  
  
    Brittany was stunned into silence.  
  
    "It  _would_ be a rather 'adult' thing to do," Bogo's frown tightened up. "I can tell you from my own experience that I don't recommend it."  
  
    "Ss-so..." Brittany felt a knot in her stomach. "So you're saying that if I go out there and talk to my parents... I'll be more mature than you or them?"  
  
    Bogo rolled his eyes and slightly grinned. "I'd expect you'd want to hold that above our heads. But if that's the card you want to play..." he gestured outside, "first you have to draw it."  
  
    Brittany's brow fell and she grew a challenging smile.  
  


* * *

  
    Nigel and Delilah gasped as they saw their daughter enter the lobby with a blank expression on her face.  
  
    "Ooh, ooh!" Kinsey was there too, the little seven-year-old fox held at her shoulders by her mother. "There she is!"  
  
    "So," Brittany said, standing at the far end of the lobby from them and resting her paws on a console, splaying them out. "You didn't clear this with me before coming."  
  
    "No, and we're sorry... so sorry!" Delilah moaned in a pinched voice, gesturing forward with a paw.  
  
    "It was my doing, I was weak again, I'm sorry," Nigel said, holding a paw out. "Kinsey- she um, she wanted to see you. She was quite insistent."  
  
    "Ah, so you listen to her when she wants something," Brittany's voice lacked bitterness, but the words were biting enough. "Seems like an improvement."  
  
    Nigel swallowed. "Whatever you want to say, say it, Brittany. I deserve it."  
  
    " _We_ deserve it," Delilah shot him a glance. "I shouldn't have let him just  _decide_ how we were going to handle things with you... especially when I saw that it hurt you so much."  
  
    "You say that," Brittany said, coming around and slowly approaching them. "But with a little kit around, if I yell at you guys, _I'm_ going to seem like the jerk here. Is that what you want? To scare her into not wanting to come back? Maybe we can finally be done with each other then, huh?"  
  
    "Brittany..." Nigel held a paw to his chest. "I am so sorry about how we treated you. It wasn't fair, I know, and I told myself it wasn't fair. But... so long ago, with the fire. I never told you how scared I felt, how scared I was that you seemed like you could destroy anything you wanted with just a thought.  _Without_ even a thought."  
  
    "And you were scared I'd hurt her," Brittany said, looking down at Kinsey.  
  
    "What are you all  _talking_ about?" The young vixen asked obliviously.  
  
    "I'm a much weaker fox than I seem," Nigel's head bowed.  
  
    "Nigel," Delilah looked at him. "Don't take all the blame. You got Brittany out of the fire. You were a hero."  
  
    "A 'hero' motivated by fear," Nigel scoffed, adjusting his glasses before they fell off his sagged muzzle, "some 'hero'. Nearly everything I've done has been driven by fear. Heck, I'm even scared of what'd happen if I didn't relent to Kinsey's request to come see you."  
  
    There was uncomfortable silence. Random passersby in the halls seemed to intuit the situation and go a different way, or else stand way back and create a lot of space.  
  
    "You're pretty," Kinsey said abruptly, looking at Brittany.  
  
    "Huh...?" Brittany was broken from the glare she held on her father, tilting her head down at her sister.  
  
    "Am I gonna look like you when I grow up?" Kinsey wondered.  
  
    "Uh, maybe," Brittany huffed, half-smiling. "I think you'll probably keep those hazel eyes, though." She pointed at hers. "Mine are just brown."  
  
    "So you can make  _fire_ and stuff?" Kinsey had a large smile.  
  
    "Yeah, something like that," Brittany held her arms behind her back and straightened up in a move she had rather shamelessly copied from Bogo when he wanted to assert his authority. "Ice, too."  
  
    "Can I see!?" Kinsey clapped her paws.  
  
    "Kinsey!" Delilah almost shrieked, holding her closer. "Those things are not toys!"  
  
    "Delilah," Nigel held up a paw. "If... if Brittany wants... sh-she can show her sister her powers."  
  
    Brittany took out her wand. With the conflicting emotions she felt, it was rather easy to put on the display she had just thought of. She poked at the air six times, focusing on her anger to her family as well as the stern distance she felt from them. She made a small puff of fire, which instantly evaporated, then misty ice that did the same, and so on for each point with her wand.  
  
    "Ta da," Brittany barely smiled.  
  
    "Whoa, _awesome_!" Kinsey clapped, looking at her mother and father for their approval, who hesitantly clapped as well. "Did they teach you how to do that here!?"  
  
    "No, I was born with it," Brittany grumbled, sourly adding, "unfortunately."   
  
    "Do I have powers too?" Kinsey asked, voice rich with innocent marvel. "Do I?"  
  
    Brittany's mouth dropped open to say something, but no sound came out.  
  
    The Voxen parents looked at each other with worried expressions.  
  
    "Did you come here to find that out too?" Brittany asked them.  
  
    "Do you know...?" It seemed to take all of Nigel's nerve to ask.  
  
    "Why?" Brittany tried not to raise her voice. "So you could ditch her here, too? Try again for a 'normal' one?"  
  
    Nigel looked away in shame. "Nh-no. I'm done doing that. That won't happen again. I swear it." He nervously laughed, just twice. "Besides, uh, that last part is going to be impossible now." He made a "scissors" motion with his paw. "I got a little procedure done that-"  
  
    "Nigel...!" Delilah looked at him with horror.  
    "Okay! Got it! Ew, gross!" Brittany simultaneously cringed and tried to cover the ears on top of her head. Kinsey was of course oblivious to all the goings on.  
  
    "You all sure act weird," the little one observed.  
  
    "That's not nice, Kinsey," Delilah mildly reprimanded.   
  
    "If... if she had powers too," Nigel's voice hitched, "we'd... we'd try very hard to be there for her and support her. And we'd hope... maybe you'd be there for her too. As a sister."  
  
    "She does seem fascinated with you," Delilah offered.  
  
    "Yeah, because I'm a party trick to her right now," Brittany said. "Besides that, she knows about as much about how I am these days as you do."  
  
    "That's fair..." Nigel closed his eyes. "So... do you know?"  
  
    Brittany found herself hesitant to answer. "What makes you think I would know?"  
  
    "Well, you know Commander Bogo, dear," Delilah winced. "Doesn't he have that... power sensing thingy?"  
  
    "Psh, he didn't even tell me I  _had_ a sister," Brittany folded her arms tightly, careful to not blatantly lie. "What makes you think I'd know if she had powers?"  
  
    "Ah, well, perhaps if you ever figured out, maybe you could tell us," Delilah rubbed at one of her arms. "Just in case they are dangerous... maybe we could prevent a disaster."  
  
    Brittany grimaced. Great, now  _she_ was in just the sort of position her dumb buffalo commander was in. Should she risk Kinsey actually being able to lead a normal life, or trust her parents to be better with her upbringing and get her a place at the ZED? The opposing thoughts warred inside Brittany's head, and she suddenly did not envy Commander Bogo.  
  
    "We'd best be getting back home before long," Nigel said carefully, "but we want to come back soon, okay?"  
  
    "I'll... think about it," Brittany nodded diagonally, quietly grateful for the reprieve. "...I might actually return a text this time."  
  
    "We have to leave already!?" Kinsey whined. "Um! Can I have a hug then?"   
  
    Before getting permission, Kinsey broke from her mother's light grasp and rushed over in Brittany's direction. She crouched down and lifted her up, giving her a nice hug. Her parents both smiled, looking at each other.  
  
    "I can see you soon, right?" Kinsey wondered.  
  
    "You just want me to do more fiery and icy stuff, don't you?" Brittany narrowed an eye at her, booping her on the nose.  
  
    "Uh huh!" Kinsey confirmed with an eager nod. Brittany rolled her eyes.  
  
    "Well, c'mon Kinsey, we should be going," Nigel beckoned.  
  
    "NO."  
  
    Commander Bogo's booming word rolled through the air like thunder, causing all eyes to go to him. The buffalo charged into the middle of the room, looking left and right. His pupils vanished and he stared at the east wall. "Damnit, DAMNIT!"  
  
    "Commander?" Brittany still held her sister in her arms.  
  
    "Nobody goes ANYWHERE," Bogo held a finger up, stopping in his tracks suddenly. He darted his head to the side. "MCHORN!"  
  
    "Yeez, he's loud!" Kinsey covered her ears as her sister's pulse began to race.  
  
    McHorn appeared, the rhino lumbering over to be near the chief. "Sir?"  
  
    Bogo pointed at McHorns eponymous horn. "Override EVERYTHING."  
  
    McHorn nodded, holding his horn with both hands briefly then jerking it forward. Every monitor in the vicinity changed to McHorn's point of view, which was a clear shot of Commander Bogo in the lobby. Nigel looked at his phone with disbelief; even it had been affected.  
  
    "Crisis Code Omega is now active!" Bogo shouted in a somewhat-controlled tone. "This is NOT a drill! Crisis Code Omega is now active! Report to the lobby IMMEDIATELY. If you are in the tertiary zones, report to points Sigma and Epsilon! I will repeat this message!"  
  
    "Oh... oh crap...!" Brittany's voice wavered. "Mom, Dad, you've got to get to the elevators. Take Kinsey." She handed her sister off to them.  
  
    "Wh-what's going on?" Delilah wondered nervously.  
  
    "Someone very dangerous is on the way," Brittany explained, hurrying them along. "And we've prepared for this, but you all need to get to a special shelter, okay?"  
  
    "Brittany!" Delilah gasped.  
  
    "Let's do as she says, dear," Nigel nodded.  
  
    "All non-empowered and medical personnel first!" Bogo instructed to McHorn. "This is Group Alpha! You will give way to any non-empowered individuals!" Brittany shot a desperate look back at Bogo as she escorted her family to the elevators, and he nodded at her and made a "hurry up" gesture by rotating his wrist.  
  
    "Get into the elevator, guys," Brittany said as the first group started to load up, a present but rather mild chaotic din filling the air.   
  
    "Are you coming with us?" Delilah wondered with worried eyes.  
  
    "I'll be coming later!" Brittany waved her hands. "Offensively-empowered non-enforcers are the  _last_ group to take shelter."   
  
    "Be careful, Brittany," Nigel said with concern.  
  
    "Where are we going?" Kinsey wondered at all the confusion, seemingly close to panic.  
  
    "You're gonna go play hide-and-seek, okay?" Brittany said to her sister with a nervous smile. "Just go down there and have some fun, okay?"  
  
    "Hide-and-seek is boring," Kinsey complained.  
  
    "That place down there is really cool, honest!" Brittany said hurriedly. "Trust me! Just go!"  
  
    Before many more seconds, Brittany's family was swallowed up by the elevator. She let a troubled breath go, gripping onto her wand and looking around, waving some mammals over with it. "This way, guys!"  
  
    Bogo shouted in a warning tone as he saw some mammals entering the elevator, even as they were in their correct group. "Out of the way! VACATE that elevator!"  
  
    As he said so, Dr. Badger and a few nurses wheeled a gurney containing Skye into the hall.  
  
    "Skye...!" Brittany wailed, her teeth showing.  
  
    "Skye is priority!" Bogo explained loudly. "This elevator will contain only her and her aides! Move to another, mammals! MOVE!"  
  
    "Bree!" Skye breathed weakly as she was loaded up into the elevator. "Come with me!"  
  
    "I'm in a later group, Skye, I'll catch up!" Brittany promised. She looked down to Dr. Badger. "Keep her safe..."  
  
    The evacuation continued. An eerie feeling of controlled disorder swirled within Brittany as everything began to happen like in a dream. It was as if she was feeling a storm and calm at the very same time. Feelings of heat and cold seemed to rotate through her in equal measure. She helped as best she could, waving mammals over with her wand, helping fit the most efficient groups into the elevators. She pushed forward, stitching order into the chaos, feeling panicked calm as the live event carried so much more weight than the drills.  
  
    "Oh jeez... this is it, this is really happening," Brittany breathed out in the middle of one of the lulls between elevators. Level seven was massive; she had no doubt it could fit the entire population of the ZED many times over, but would everyone get down in time? That was the worry.  
  
    Finally, Brittany's assigned evacuation arrived, but she still found herself tarrying, helping organize a different group.  
  
    "C'mon, Brittany!" Sam implored as he lined up in an elevator close to bursting with its occupants. The deer made a beckoning gesture with his hands. "It's our time to go now!"  
  
    "I'll get the next one down! There's too little room! Oh!" Brittany yanked the scurrying Callie off the floor and shoved her in the elevator, into Sam's hands.  
  
    "Kuh! Rude!" Callie almost had time to grin as the elevator doors shut.  
  
    The hallways were pretty much empty of mammals that were actually supposed to evacuate. Enforcers crowded the lobby, taking positions of strategic cover. Brittany just had to remember the elevator code to get down to level seven. She'd have the elevator all to herself, get some time to gather her wits, and then lay low until it was safe.  
  
    "Proximity warning," the pleasant male computer voice offered through the speaker system, "proximity warning. Crisis power mode engaged." The lights dimmed considerably.  
  
    "Oh no..." Brittany whispered. That meant the elevators were offline. The only way into level seven now was the hatches at points Sigma and Epsilon.  
  
    "Brace yourselves, Enforcers!" Bogo yelled out. "He will be here any moment!" His peripheral vision caught Brittany. "BRITTANY!" His voice was a terrified bellow. "What are you still doing here!?"  
  
    "I was going to be in the next elevator!" Brittany wailed. "What do I do?"  
  
    "All right," Bogo said through his teeth. "If we can distract him, you make for point Epsilon, got it? Else, you STAY BEHIND ME."  
  
    "Gh-got it," Brittany said, trying to move behind Bogo and into the shadows. Terror plucked at her, making her feel cold.  
  
    "Fangmeyer, you know what to do!" Bogo said off to his side.  
  
    "With pleasure, boss," Fangmeyer sneered, baring her fangs.  
  
    Not five seconds later, an entire section of the east wall exploded outward, revealing an incongruously pleasant scene of daylight that punctured the dimly-lit lobby. Things became dark again as the shadow of a bunny appeared in the new opening, surrounded by a large, odd dome that seemed to do unusual things to the light entering it. Strangely enough, the bunny inside it started to become fully visible.   
  
    The rabbit was quite unassuming. He had a white coat with black stripes all over his fur. He had teal eyes that almost seemed to glow, a sinister smile on his face. He wore an expensive-looking black suit, and adjusted one of his cuffs as he walked through the wreckage he'd just caused.  
  
    "Guess who's back...?" The surprisingly light voice of the bunny intoned.   
  
     _PPFREWW._  
  
    All of a sudden, he was no longer visible. A huge horizontal gust of wind had blasted him out of the opening.   
  
    " _Damn_ that felt good," Fangmeyer grinned darkly.  
  
    "We might not get this chance again, Brittany," Bogo turned to her for just a second, then looked back to the hole. "Get to point Epsilon. You know the code. Go!"  
  
    Brittany felt the strength in her legs ebb, but she tried to get her feet and move. After a false start, she nearly made it one step before an orb of distortion flew into the room with surprising speed, making an eerie, low hum, like that of old electronic equipment.  
  
    "Grk...!" Fangmeyer buckled as the orb enveloped her and she was brought to her knees, then all fours as the orb stopped its path right over her.   
  
    "Wait...!" Bogo said in a horrified whisper, holding an arm to bar Brittany from moving and hiding her back behind him.  
  
    "Let's try this again..." the bunny menaced as he stepped back through the opening, correcting the knot in his tie with one hand, his other one held with his palm out. He made a flick with his paw, and the orb dragged across the room, carrying the tigress with it. She slammed into the far west wall hard, and then the orb came to rest, holding her there before dropping her to the floor. Fangmeyer tried her hardest to move, but was unable, collapsing onto the ground while the dome contained her as its prisoner.  
  
    "I _said_... GUESS. WHO'S. BACK!?"


	11. Extinguished

    "Jack Savage...!" Bogo said in a barely restrained yell.  
  
    "You _do_ remember me, Yumba," Jack smirked, brow tightly pinched downward. "I'm touched."  
  
    Brittany tried sounding out the unfamiliar name silently, still hidden behind the large buffalo in the ZED lobby.   
  
    "You should not have returned, Jack," Bogo warned, his voice stable. "If you remain here, you will be destroyed."  
  
    "Oh!" Jack laughed. "Is that so? Well, let's see if any of your 'Enforcers' are up to the task."  
  
    Meanwhile, Fangmeyer felt the strain of the increased gravity of the field around her, finding out how to minimize the force on her body. She lay flat against the floor, cursing quietly and growling out her frustration.  
  
    A wolf Enforcer peeked out of his cover, saw metal among the debris of Jack's entry, and made motions with his hands. The metal shattered into fragments, which then all shot at the bunny at once.  
  
    Bogo had enough time to draw in a quarter of a breath. "Wolfard! No! You idiot!"  
  
    The shards slowed down considerably in the gravity field Jack wore, then went shooting out in various directions, one grazing Bogo's upper arm. Sparks flew and metal made tinging noises around the room as the other shards harmlessly found homes elsewhere. Brittany slapped her paws over her muzzle, trying not to yip in panic.   
  
    "Whuh!?" Wolfard got plucked out of his cover by an eerie burst of gravity near his feet, then, as Jack pushed forward, another sent him forward, into the field that still held Fangmeyer.  
  
    "Get off me," Fangmeyer demanded, but the increased pull of gravity soon tugged Wolfard off of Fangmeyer's back and his body fell down next to her. He whined at the pressure.  
  
    "No one with powers that have mass attacks Jack!" Bogo hollered. "We discussed this!"  
  
    "No no, be my guest, please!" Jack held his arms open wide. "Attack me! This is my favorite part... when any mammal that opposes me quickly sees the hopelessness of their plight."  
  
    "Well, if you insist!"  
  
    TCHAKK!  
  
    Brittany's paws moved from her mouth to her ears, and she cringed and cowered. Judy's kicks sounded  _much_ louder indoors.   
  
    Jack didn't even have time to turn before the energy wave from the kick pierced his aura and traveled into him, sending him flying across the room. "Rrgh!"  
  
    When Jack should have hit the wall, the field he projected instead pushed him away from it. He flashed a deranged grin as he flew straight back towards Judy. "Hnh!"  
  
    "What the-!?" Judy was ready to move, but wasn't expecting the entirety of the bunny to come zooming at her. Once the field started to envelop her, it just as quickly pushed her out of it, rocketing her toward the gravity trap the other two Enforcers were in.  
  
    TCHK!  
  
    A quick flick of Judy's legs adjusted her course in midair, and she landed on a high console.  
  
    "A _bunny_!" Jack blurted maniacally, gesturing at Judy. She jumped out of the way as a small singularity opened up near her, tugging her toward its pull of gravity. A double kick from the bunny sent her away from this latest trap. "I don't know whether to be insulted or fascinated that you hired another one, Yumba!" Jack tossed another wave of force at Judy to try to push her into the large gravity trap, but Judy desperately dodged to the side again, the force barely clipping her. She rolled once across the ground, jumped into the air, and drew back with her leg.  
  
    "GEYSER KICK!" Judy screamed, stabbing her right leg forward with a stiff snap.  
  
     _TCHOOOOM!_  
  
    The noise was nearly deafening even through guarded ears. Besides Brittany, other mammals' hearing was replaced by temporary ringing. The fountain of white energy shooting out of Judy's foot spiraled through the air as quick as a gunshot.  
  
    Jack's pupils shrank as the energy blast missed him by inches. He felt his head involuntarily tilt to the side as his entire body consequently flew back toward the wall that Judy was determined to put him in, and even the residual force of the shockwave kick was sufficient to slam Jack into the wall before his field could bounce him back. He landed gracelessly on the floor, stumbling to his feet, coughing and holding his chest.  
  
    As for the wall that Judy's kick had been aimed at, there was now another hole in it, comparable to the one Jack had made, though smaller, and the material of the wall had been blown out much farther.  
  
    Jack sneered in anger. "Yes, well! We bunnies are _quite powerful_...!" He gestured with both of his hands, thrusting them one after another.  
  
    Judy looked left and right for which way to dodge, and saw tiny singularities forming all around her. Jack brought his hands together and clasped them, and Judy launched forward to try to escape the bizarre minefield that was growing. The tiny singularities formed into a slightly larger one, dragging Judy toward it.  
  
    TCHAKK!  
  
    After a kick to try to escape, the gray bunny found herself grabbed again by the anomaly. Judy swiped at anything she could reach, but her paws failed her and she swirled around the trap, rotating helplessly.  
  
    "Whoaaa!" Judy moaned, curling into a ball and trying to resist the urge to thrash her legs in panic.   
  
    "Pest," Jack muttered as she was subdued. "This the best you have, Yumba?" Jack flicked in the air to make the singularity float over and deposit its captive into the field.  
  
    "Urgh!" Judy quickly hit the floor, splaying out like the other prisoners. "Unnggh... feels like I'm trying to bench press that stupid fox..."  
  
    "Feels more like... Bogo," Fangmeyer grunted, her breaths getting difficult to take.  
  
    "Let them GO, Jack!" Bogo demanded, his voice still staying firm.  
  
    "Just about underestimated that bunny," Jack wiggled his forefinger, taking two steps toward Bogo. "That's on me. But I can't believe you're still using _Kristen_."  
  
    A tiger snarl came from the prison of gravity.  
  
    "I almost  _had_ him..." Judy grit her teeth, her fists balling up as she made a futile attempt to crawl.  
  
    "Good try, Hopps..." Fangmeyer muttered with quiet sincerity.   
  
    "You were my best Enforcer," Bogo scoffed. "And you threw that all away for a selfish pleasure-trip across the world!?"  
  
    "More or less," Jack half-smiled, holding his arms out wide. "I'm not completely ungrateful to you for unleashing my true potential. I'll probably leave you alive if I can at all help it."  
  
    "But you're going to kill us, huh?" Judy spat.   
  
    "Haven't decided yet," Jack said, half-turning toward Judy, starting to step toward her. "Thinking about it, since you very nearly did me some damage. However, the truth is I really don't like to kill anyone. It's brutish, unrefined. You can't  _teach_ someone anything by killing them, only the unfortunate survivors. I much prefer to leave those that oppose me permanently crippled, so they may regret their actions against me for the rest of their lives."  
  
    There was a moment of relative calm as Bogo stared down at Jack, the only sounds being the hum of Jack's gravity bubbles and the struggling groans from the captive mammals.  
  
    "Now that it's come to mind, how  _is_ Skye...?" Jack tilted his head, disgorging a charming smile.  
  
    Brittany shrieked. It was a loud, strange, chilling shriek.  
  
    Reacting instantly, Bogo reached behind him, grabbed her by the back of her outfit, and threw her forward toward the rest of the compound. "GO!"  
  
    Brittany stumbled forward three steps, bewildered, before she was caught by a gravity bubble. This one, instead of dragging her to the ground, lifted her up in the air, suspending her in micro-gravity. The bubble floated toward the high ceiling of the lobby, and Brittany screamed again in terror.  
  
    "Good _Lord_ ," Jack's face scrunched with distaste. "It is true what they say about the vixen's wail. Who's this pretty little young thing, Yumba? One of your Enforcer hopefuls?"  
  
    "Let her down, Jack, slowly," Bogo responded with a cold voice. "She's nothing to you."  
  
    "I'm sure," Jack responded with a nod, "but I'm curious what she's doing in this place. Didn't make it out in time? Tragic."  
  
    "If you hurt her..." Bogo warned.  
  
    "You'll _what_?" Jack smiled brightly, gesturing at Bogo. Another gravity dome appeared around Bogo and he grunted, the increased gravity bringing him down to his knees, and then quickly to all fours. "Your threats are as empty as the vacuum of space!"  
  
    "BOGO!" Brittany cried out, feeling the flicker of flame surging through her system. Hastily and shakily, she retrieved her wand from her belt, trying to aim it at Jack.  
  
    Jack grinned at the terrified vixen. "Oh, please." He made a plucking motion with his fingers, and the wand launched out of Brittany's grasp and into a wall, where the gathering fireball on the tip of the wand quickly died down.  
  
    "No..." Brittany curled in on herself. "No no no no... please... please stop." She shivered as her burning fear turned to cold dread, and her fur actually started to bristle and chill.  
  
    Jack gestured upward at the shivering fox. "She's a _child_ , Yumba. I hope you didn't seriously consider using her against me. Pathetic thing can't even seem to control her powers." The white bunny hesitated as he said this, turning his grin into a sneer. "You've become a much worse teacher, then."  
  
    "Only because of the precedent of an ungrateful  _bastard_ such as yourself!" Bogo fired back.  
  
    Jack grinned at the verbal missile, and increased the intensity of the gravity field surrounding Bogo just a bit, making him groan in pain. "Ah, there we are, some humility. Do you know what your problem is, Yumba? You're weak. That's why you have to surround yourself with powerful mammals. In truth, all you can do is tell a mammal what they are _able_ to do, then hope they will actually  _do_ what you wish _for_ you. What authority do you really have?"  
  
    "Selfish, hedonistic...!" Bogo strained through his teeth.  
  
    "The words of a poor loser," Jack smiled. "I said I would return and see what you did with the place. I'm a little disappointed. The bunny had some spunk, but the rest is just laughable."  
  
    "You are a wild animal, Jack," Bogo sneered. "And you  _will_ be put down."  
  
    "I can't believe you still have the willpower to make threats! At _me_!" Jack laughed, placing his hands on his chest. "The weakness of mammalkind is that they create all these 'relationships' and 'friendships'... but all they really want is something out of it. You have to pretend to tolerate everyone's idiosyncrasies, and when they'll inevitably end up doing something you despise, you'll grin, lie, and put up with it because you  _need_ them for what they can do for you. And that's exactly where I'm different. I don't need _anyone_! I am completely self-sufficient. If I see something, I can take it. It was my birthright to tour this world, taking in _all_ of its sights and pleasures. And now... I'm greeted by my former colleague, who seems to have an awful big head on those broad shoulders for the  _pitiable_ position he is in!"  
  
    Bogo's breaths came heavy. Cold crystals of tears sparkled in the dim light near Brittany's eyes.  
  
    "Now, watch in powerlessness as your top Enforcers are crippled, all in one fell- HHK!"  
  
    Nick appeared instantaneously inside of Jack's bubble, where he slowed down immeasurably until he was in striking distance of Jack. His extended arm didn't quite reach his target, but with a final jab of his claws, he punctured Jack's chest. The gravity bubble quickly caught up with Nick and tossed him hard against the far wall.  
  
    Jack's eyes became pinpricks as he put a paw on his chest and looked down, seeing blood. He looked with abject disbelief at Nick, who took a brisk jog around the room and crouched, a flash sparking around him.  
  
    "Nick!" Judy was as surprised to see him as the rest of the room. They looked at Jack's plight, but, though he staggered, he stayed on his feet.  
  
    "How's it going, Jack?" Nick asked him, his voice devoid of its normal levity.  
  
    "You _STRUCK_ ME!" Jack raged, his paws vibrating. There was a unsettling shaking of the surroundings.  
  
    "Oh, sorry," Nick shrugged. "Meant to  _kill_ you."  
  
    The instant Jack twitched his paw forward, Nick appeared at another area of the room. A small gravity burst appeared where he once was, and Jack futility sent more blasts at everywhere he could see flashes of red-orange fur, but every attack missed its mark.  
  
    "Don't get too close to this field, Nick!" Judy warned, feeling the strain of the dome weaken as Jack's attention was elsewhere. "The gravity is too strong!"  
  
    "To be honest, I was more than a little miffed that you set the ZED up against me for this past decade," Nick said close to monotone as he avoided Jack's onslaught. "You could have at  _least_ handed over that money that you claimed I stole."  
  
    "You didn't deserve a cent of it, whelp!" Jack shrieked, pausing to attempt to gather his failing wits and think of another idea to assail Nick with. Jack suddenly cackled as he saw Bogo's expression change into confusion. "I admit I set this cur up. Honestly, when you're as powerful as I, you can afford to tell the truth!"  
  
    Nick appeared right in front of Jack for another attack, but vanished from view the moment Jack wound up for another gravity well. The rabbit's ears twitched. In a moment of feral instinct, Jack summoned a very heavy well directly behind his pall and Nick was caught, hitting the ground hard enough to dent it.  
  
    "Urgh...!" Nick grunted.  
  
    "Nick!" Judy screamed helplessly. "Get up, Nick!"  
  
    "Kinda trying to do th- URK!"  
  
    Jack squeezed his paw shut, the well collapsing. Nick's body twisted and contracted in a very unnatural way.  
  
    Brittany gasped again, terror flooding her. She felt so helpless while floating there as horrific actions transpired in a blur of violence.  
  
    "That kind of smarts..." Nick managed out before his healing ability kicked in and let him straighten up.  
  
    Jack looked like he was seeing a ghost, but then just repeated his last attack, and squashed Nick again.   
  
    "Gggghhh..." Nick gurgled, feeling the energy that fueled his abilities ebbing.  
  
    "Fantastic!" Jack cackled in sadistic glee. "He's like one of those stress toys! Unfortunately, I've grown out of the need for such trivialities!" As Nick was healing again, Jack gestured and threw Nick into the gravity prison, where he landed hard next to Judy.  
  
    "How ya doin', Buster?" Nick grumbled into the floor.  
  
    "Could be better, honestly," Judy groaned as the gravity in the prison started to increase once more.   
  
    Nick grunted in pain. ""If only I'd gotten my claws in another inch or two..."  
  
    "Always has to be one mammal that ruins it for everyone, doesn't there!?" Jack's front teeth gnashed. "I'll crush you all so finely that you will make a ghastly chimera!"  
  
    " _JACK_!" Bogo shouted at the top of his lungs, distracting the furious rabbit. Bogo struggled to his knees. "If you kill them... it will be the last mistake you ever make!" The buffalo's expression twisted into one of stony fervor. "You will _die_ , and the maws of hell will yawn wide to receive you!"  
  
    "...Is that so....?" Jack said with muted fury, taking a step toward Bogo. "Then allow me to  _send_ you there so you can warn the pathetic denizens of the underworld that they should be _EXPECTING_ MY _ARRIVAL_!" The enraged rabbit began to move his paw.  
  
    It was all happening so fast for Brittany, but that moment froze solid for her. The loud noises, the terror, the threat of the end. She felt that it was hopeless. Jack was too powerful; he could do anything he wanted. The end approached, and the cold of death would soon envelop everyone.  
  
    But through her floating tears, Brittany saw her position as she hovered there impotently. She was gazing upon all the mammals she most cared about, and all of them were about to die. Who knew what would happen next? Would he lie in wait for the refugees of level seven? Would he kill them too? Was all of Brittany's life really about to end in one fell swoop?  
  
    With one last sob, Brittany's teeth grit and her eyes opened. Her terror melted into nothing, and anger flowed through her body. Defiance, passion, love, rage, hate, the will to survive. Her heart started racing, and she felt the beginnings of a flame calling to her. Fire had always been hers. It had been her friend, her foe, something she danced with, something she ran from. Something she banished, something she invited.  
  
    It would always be with her.  
  
     _PAKK!_  
  
    Jack was startled out of the current focus of his rampage by a relatively small explosion. Jerking his head in the direction of the noise, he saw two bright points of light near where Brittany's discarded wand lay. Two fiery serpents rushed out of the wand's tips, incalculably long, screaming in the language of fire as they sizzled the air around them. Jack looked around in confusion as the immeasurable whips of fire thrashed around him, piercing through his defenses, but they didn't appear to be aimed at him. Instead, the fire rushed for its master, suspended high in the air. Brittany placed her paws together at the wrist and invited the hot rush of the dragons of flame converging on the area just in front of her paws.  
  
    Jack's expression read puzzlement, then muted horror, then extreme terror. He had no time left to contemplate a course of action as he raised both paws at Brittany to crush her.  
  
    Brittany was already screaming. The blinding point at which all of the heat energy had been collected was at a temperature far beyond an earthly fire. Into this fire, Brittany channeled every single feeling she was experiencing at that moment. Her heart thudded in her chest as even her blood seemed to burn while churning through her.  
  
    SHHHHHHHHHHHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!  
  
    With a loud roar, a beam of searing-hot energy shot directly toward Jack. He didn't even have time to begin a vocalization as he was engulfed. The beam held steady for several seconds, setting the immediate surroundings of the point of impact on fire from the incredible temperatures, but suddenly, it stopped the very instant Brittany's feral shriek did, and that was because suddenly, all of the gravity bubbles in the room had completely vanished.  
  
    As natural gravity demanded it be obeyed, Brittany fell to the ground, landing on her back, yipping in pain as she hit the hard ground.  
  
    "Brittany!" Bogo yelled. Pain shot through his back as he felt the damage from being exposed to the angry gravity of Jack take its toll on him, but he started to crawl forward. He looked around in panic at the room. There was no trace of Jack as the smell of burning flooded the room, but the fires around where he had been roared angrily. "Kristen, can you move!? Don't try to stand yet! Can you put these fires out!?"  
  
    "Got it, boss," Fangmeyer grit her teeth and started to crawl forward, showing impressive fortitude as she moved on all fours like an ancient mammal out of the disappeared prison she'd been kept in. She crept toward the thrashing flames, heat blazing at her, and swiped at it with her hands, vacuums of wind eventually silencing the fires.  
  
    Beginning to curl up on the ground, Brittany appeared to be in shock. She gazed at her paws as fire eagerly swirled around them, moving up to her arms, spreading like a blanket across its mother.  
  
    "Brittany! Are you all right!?" Bogo called out desperately, feeling more pressure and pain in his back as he slowly crawled toward her.  
  
    "I'm- I didn't- I just, I ...!" Brittany babbled, hyperventilating. "It's covering me!"  
  
    "Focus on your breathing, Brittany!" Bogo instructed firmly. "I know you can do this, Brittany. Those fires are yours. Tell them to sleep."  
  
    Brittany squinted her eyes shut as chaos reigned in her mind. She couldn't focus on a single thought, but all of a sudden she was aware of no thoughts at all, replaced by the feeling of taking in and letting out air. When she thought to open her eyes again, the flames were gone. She let her last breath out in exhaustion and remained there, unknowing what to feel.  
  
    "Judy! You all right?" Bogo called to her.  
  
    "Yeah... yeah think so," Judy said, crawling forward. "I feel like ancient bunnies were a bit more dignified than this."  
  
    "I'm fine too," Nick said, practically jumping to his feet and giving his back a crack as he leaned backward. "You sure you're okay, Judy?"  
  
    "Yeah, just need a few minutes, I think," Judy's breaths came in huffs. "Did Brittany really take him out? ...And did you just use my name?"  
  
    "Yes to both," Nick said, "but sorry about the latter. Won't happen again. Suddenly, I'm kind of relieved that I was  _only_ impaled."  
  
    "Shut up, Nick," Judy said, crawling toward Brittany. "This is no time for jokes."  
  
    "Of course it is," Nick muttered flatly. "It's my coping mechanism." He looked back at Fangmeyer, who was also resting on the ground. "You okay, Krissycat?"  
  
    "I'm only giving you that one because you were crushed twice before my eyes," Fangmeyer grumbled.   
  
    "Does that mean I get one more?" Nick asked hopefully. He was ignored.  
  
    "Brittany, are you okay?" Judy asked, closing in on the curled-up vixen.  
  
    "I kh-killed him..." Brittany moaned.  
  
    "You did," Nick frowned. "He was kind of asking for it."  
  
    "Bh-Bogo...?" Brittany looked toward the buffalo, who was rubbing his back. "Th-that's what you meant, right? ...That's what you were warning him about? Me, right? Th- I was supposed to do that...?"  
  
    Bogo looked at Brittany with wide, worried eyes, then turned his head slightly away. "...You did what had to be done, and you have spared all of our lives. That is the summation of things."  
  
    Brittany slowly sat up, staring into the distance.  
  
    Bogo grunted, unable to find the strength to copy that action. His next command came out in a mumble. "Computer, disengage Crisis Code Omega. Authorization Yumba-Seven."  
  
    "Crisis Code Omega deactivated," the male computer voice said cheerfully. "Restoring normal function."  
  
    The lights began to come back on, even though the usual appearance of the lobby was completely obliterated. It was a surreal contrast that only seasoned the disjointed feelings Brittany had.   
  
    "So, I think I should probably go now," Nick jerked his thumb behind him, to the two gaping holes in the wall.  
  
    "Where do you think you're going, Wilde?" Fangmeyer grit her teeth. "You nearly got us killed with that stunt you did..."  
  
    "He  _tried_ to save us, Fangmeyer," Judy explained, her brow furrowed. "He almost did, too."   
  
    "Yeah, well, 'almost' barely counts for anything," Nick frowned, then looked at Brittany with a more mild expression. "Good going, kit."  
  
    "I... I guess so," Brittany murmured.   
  
    Nick frowned, a look of pity crossing his face. He turned to Fangmeyer. "Oh, by the way, while my paw is still bloody, I don't suppose you want any of Jack's blood to try to create any _non_ -evil clones of him?"  
  
    "Sterilize your hand, Wilde," Bogo grunted.  
  
    "Right, so, I guess we're done here, then?" Nick shrugged.  
  
    "Not even close, but thanks for the attempted assist," Judy grinned faintly, managing to get herself to a seated position. "I'll see you around."  
  
    "I'm pretty sure that's unavoidable at this point," Nick grew a small half smile, then with another step he was gone.   
  
    The elevators opened, and medical personnel flooded out, headed by Dr. Madge Badger.  
  
    "Who's injured?" She demanded, walking forward. "Nurses! Gurneys!"  
  
    "Bogo has the worst of it," Fangmeyer explained, "take him in first."  
  
    "Belay that!" Bogo barked. "Fangmeyer was exposed to the gravity well for the longest. Send her in first."  
  
    "As chief medical officer, shaddap!" Madge put her hands on her hips. "My medical directive can supersede even a commanding one. Prepare both of your butts for transport. Get them all in! Tough-tiger and gruffalo first!"  
  
    "Gruffalo...?" Judy nearly laughed. "Sounds like something Nick would say."  
  
    "I  _hate_ aliases," Bogo huffed as he was swiftly loaded onto a gurney. "Brittany will need counsel. Find Clawhauser."  
  
    "Affirmative," Madge nodded to a mouse assistant, "get the cheery cheetah."  
  
    Karen happened into the room, looking worried. Her eyes flicked this way and that as Judy, Wolfard, and Brittany awaited medical attention. Bogo and Fangmeyer disappeared into the hallways toward the medical bay.  
  
    "Wh-where's my parents...?" Brittany found herself asking, as if the question was automated.  
  
    "Everyone nonessential to operation is still on level seven," Karen replied. "As I recall your family is still playing hide and seek."  
  
    Brittany nodded emptily, the fact of her birth family playing such a lighthearted game completely failing to register in Brittany's mind.       
  
    "What a mess," Karen lamented at the damage to the lobby. "It was really touch and go there, huh? I was in charge of watching everyone's vitals, and I... I'm relieved that-"  
  
    "Karen, stop talking," Judy moaned. "We've all been through a lot."  
  
    Karen nodded twice. "I was especially worried for you, Brittany. You weren't supposed to be here and I didn't even have a sensor on you."  
  
    "Yeah, I... I had to- um..." Brittany didn't quite make eye contact with Karen. She seemed to be looking past her, to her wand.  
  
    Karen followed her gaze to the wand and looked at it. It sizzled on the floor and she dared not touch it. It looked like all of the fuel from it was summoned at once, which caused the hare's eyes to widen and her brow to raise. The explosive release had burst both ends of the wand into ghastly mouths of burnt metallic teeth. "I'll be working on the Mark IV after all."  
  
    Judy gave a single chuckle. "Karen, this is no time for jokes."  
  
    "I'm not joking, though," Karen tilted her head. The nurses and other medical staff began to rush into the room for the remaining mammals.   
  
    "The repair is going to be the most important part," Judy said, looking at Brittany with a soft expression. The vixen returned one of unsteadiness and worry. "And that's going to take a while."


	12. Warm Glow

    The door opened to Benjamin Clawhauser's office in the ZED, and Brittany stepped out, an even look on her muzzle, but her eyes were not lost in a stare.  
  
    "So, next week, then?" Benjamin asked lightly. "Or, any time you need, really. My door's always open."  
  
    "Thanks, Mr. Clawhauser," Brittany nodded. "Yeah, next week."   
  
    It'd been just about a month since the attack by Jack Savage. The lobby now buzzed with contractors tasked to repair the room, and beyond that, things were almost back to normal, incredibly enough. Against all odds, no one had been seriously hurt in the assault, and only one showed lasting damage.  
  
    Commander Bogo slowly walked down the hall, his gait stiff. He leaned for support on a cane that looked rather massive to Brittany; it had to support Bogo's considerable weight. Damage had been done to his back from his extra struggling against the gravitational forces that Jack trapped him with.  
  
    "Ms. Voxen," Bogo allowed her to see a small smile. "Up for a little chat?"  
  
    "Okay," Brittany nodded, falling into a slow step beside him. "So... 'Yumba's' really your first name?"  
  
    Bogo cleared his throat. "How are you doing, Brittany?"  
  
    "Um, okay, I guess," Brittany looked forward. "Mr. Clawhauser is easy to talk to. I think he's helping."  
  
    Bogo nodded. "Excellent-"   
  
    "But I should ask the same about you, Commander," Brittany looked up at him anxiously. "What's going on with your... situation?"  
  
    "I'll likely heal up, with enough time and an operation or two, the latter of which I do  _not_ have enough time for at the moment," Bogo explained. "It will not keep me from carrying out my duties."  
  
    "Okay, if you're sure," Brittany frowned.  
  
    Bogo shook his head and sighed, head tilting toward the ground as they walked. "We should have been better."  
  
    "What do you mean?" Brittany looked at him sidelong, her expression showing hesitation. "About... Jack?"  
  
    "Mm," Bogo snorted. "That's on me as well. My Enforcers may have panicked and Hopps jumped the gun, but I didn't have a defined plan of action for a coordinated attack. We should  _not_ have made it out of there merely due to luck. If we could have organized something more definitive, perhaps we could have carried out a victory without your help." Bogo's frown deepened. "Or Mr. Wilde's."  
  
    "I'm not sure I follow, exactly," Brittany replied, blinking.  
  
    "With my abilities, I can see the potential of a user's power, and use that to generally match it against that of another," Bogo explained. "That's why I generally send my agents alone against others. There are too many complications and conflicting factors when more get involved, so I try to avoid it. But this couldn't be avoided... and perhaps in part because of my shortcomings there, Kain saw the battle as complete chaos. There was no coordination."  
  
    "He... I..." Brittany stammered, wondering if she should tell him about the part of Kain's "prophecy" that he revealed to her.  
  
    "It's a lesson I shouldn't have had to learn," Bogo said grimly. "I relied too heavily on my own powers, without actually using anything in here." He pointed to his temple. "It could have cost us dearly, and I consider myself fortunate and thankful that only I have had to pay physically for this."  
  
    "So... if you could see a 'match-up' of one versus another," Brittany considered. "You  _knew_ I could win against Jack?"  
  
    Bogo's eyes flew open. "First of all, you're not an Enforcer. Secondly, you were pushed to your absolute limit there, that was at the limit of your emotional endurance, thus the height of your power. Third-"  
  
    "But you knew I  _could_ do it...?" Brittany frowned.  
  
    "I..." Bogo grit his teeth. "I was not prepared to risk you."  
  
    "But you sounded so confident that Jack would lose," Brittany mumbled.  
  
    "Yes... well, there was a fail-safe to force that outcome, and the less said there, the better," Bogo said briskly. "What happened, happened. We have to keep moving onward. I need to train my Enforcers better in tactics and discipline, and I may even need to scout out new ones."   
  
    "I don't think I have what it takes to be an Enforcer, sir," Brittany said, her head sagging. "I just... I don't want to do anything like what I did ever again."  
  
    "I understand, however..." Bogo betrayed a smile again. "I did have something else in mind as an offer for you, perhaps something a little more up your alley and in line with your drive."  
  
    "My drive? What?" Brittany's face spoke confusion, but also interest.   
  
    "Commander Bogo! Sir!" Judy rounded the corner upon catching sight of the two and charged over, waving her paw above her head.  
  
    "Not now, Hopps," Bogo's eyes flickered to her for a moment.  
  
    "Sir, I need clarification on something!" Judy protested, standing near Brittany.  
  
    "Not! Now!" Bogo enunciated. "Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation with Brittany here?"  
  
    "Please sir, I was just about to go on patrol," Judy said, "and my standing orders  _still_ say I have to take Nick in if I see him? Is that really correct?"  
  
    "Your orders there haven't changed, Hopps," Bogo grumbled.  
  
    "What!? WHY!?" Judy gestured frantically, rage flashing onto her face. "After he donated his blood to try to help us? After he came in and risked his life to try to stop Jack?"  
  
    Bogo took in a huge breath and let it out in a sigh, holding up a hand. "Please, Hopps. Your orders are standing for the moment. The fact remains that he's committed two murders."  
  
    Judy scoffed loudly. "But they-!"  
  
    "HOPPS!" Bogo barked, making both female mammals next to him flinch and an anteater passerby in the hall nearly drop his pad. "I... I am  _working_ with the ZPD to try to get further investigation and information on his crimes as they stand. Perhaps you can appreciate that I haven't had too much time to look into a means to exonerate a  _known_ empowered criminal before."  
  
    "I- uh- oh," Judy blinked, turning a baffled expression straight forward.  
  
    "As far as his... 'donation'," Bogo looked left and right, his voice lowering, "I made arrangements for him to receive some compensation for it."  
  
    "So... just keep fighting him?" Judy shrugged. "Like always?" Karen Skippel happened by, making Judy wave at her. "Oh, hey Karen."  
  
    "Hopps," Karen nodded, then she seemed to brighten a bit when she noticed Brittany. "The Mark IV should be finished soon, Brittany, so you won't be wandless for much longer."  
  
    "Oh, thanks," Brittany raised an eyebrow. "But isn't that kind of a lower priority?"  
  
    "Mm, in my spare time, but I'm keeping busy," Karen said, "and on that note..." she pointed further down the hall and began to walk off.  
  
    "Skippel," Bogo called after her, "you've made the adjustments to the 'shoes' we are going to place Nick in, should we capture him?"  
  
    Karen's ears went back and she cringed. "Yes, sir." She turned to face him. "I have to say, though, I would have been curious to find out if the shoes as-is could have actually kept him restrained."  
  
    "Just follow your orders, Skippel," Bogo smirked.  
  
    "Yes, sir," Karen's dejected voice grumbled out, and she made her way off.  
  
    "Do you see what I mean, Ms. Voxen?" Bogo folded his arms behind his back. "Insubordination. Bunnies questioning my orders left and right."  
  
    Brittany surprised herself with a short giggle.  
  
    "Hey," Judy pointed, "I mean, I kind of  _like_ fighting him and all, but still- I think it would be right if we kind of gave him a break!"  
  
    "I won't devote any more hours to scanning the city for him, particularly," Bogo peered down at her, "but we have to keep up the illusion that we're still after him, at least for now."  
  
    "Why?" Judy sneered. "What's with all the cloak and dagger?"  
  
    Bogo groaned, taking out his pad and pulling up some information. "You see this? This is the empowered crime rate in Zootopia. Notice a bit of a trend?"  
  
    "Uh," Judy looked at it, with Brittany also peering at it from behind the bunny. "Looks like things have been steadily down for the past several years?"  
  
    "Exactly," Bogo said, "this is purely data and conjecture, but I have a working theory that the force of your fights and the reputations of both Mr. Wilde and yourself act as a deterrent to some would-be criminals. With the amount of miscellaneous arrests you have made, it could be that some empowered criminals just don't want to try their luck against you."  
  
    "Hm!" Judy planted her paws on her hips and stood up straight with a brow-furrowed smile.  
  
    "Have a feeling I shouldn't have told you that," Bogo grinned. "Anyhow, fall in line, Hopps. I'll have to get someone else to duel Wilde if you will not, one way or another."  
  
    "But sir!" Judy was instantly alarmed. "You said I was your only Enforcer that could take on Wilde!"  
  
    Bogo grinned devilishly. "You used to be."  
  
    There was a rush of air behind the two females.  
  
    "Boo."  
  
    Brittany flinched exaggeratedly and Judy sprang up a foot in the air. The vixen awkwardly tried to catch the bunny as she flailed in midair, but missed, hugging the air where she used to be.  
  
    Bogo's eyes widened in surprise. "Well.  _You_ have impeccable timing."  
  
    Brittany turned around. Standing in front of her was a uniformed vixen enforcer with tanned, almost cream fur, and two deep blue functioning eyes.  
  
    " _SKYE!_ " Brittany shrieked. Impulsively, she lunged forward to hug her, and Skye caught her, holding her tight. Both vixens' tails wagged frantically. Brittany's nose sniffed and took in Skye's scent, now much more pleasant, but still had a tinge of familiarity.  
  
    "Hiya, Bree!" Skye greeted during the hug.  
  
    "Skye!?" Judy's amazement rang clear. "It _worked_?"  
  
    "It did," Bogo said proudly, straightening up. "I have a medical team to rival the best in Zootopia. But in truth, most of the work was done by Mr. Wilde's blood."  
  
    "Skye!" Brittany repeated, her eyes tearing up as Skye started hovering in the air, lifting her up. Brittany's elation quickly changed to panic. "Whoa, whoa! Wait, wait- put me down!"  
  
    "Oh? Oh okay," Skye obliged, but kept her hug firm. "Can I keep hugging you, though? I have almost a decade of fox hugs backlogged!"  
  
    "Yeah just..." Brittany gnawed on her lip, "floating in the air because of someone else... it's kind of alarming to me."  
  
    "Right..." Skye nodded seriously, "sorry, I should have known; I watched the footage. But I'm just so happy! Feels so good to just...  _feel_ again! Everything's like it's brand new. What a rush!"  
  
    "So she really absorbed Nick's powers?" Judy blinked. "Does she still have her own?"  
  
    "Indeed," Bogo nodded once. "We actually tried to separate Nick's powers and only give his healing abilities to her, but that was proving complicated and perhaps was completely impossible."  
  
    "Astral projection, flight, super speed, and healing," Skye let Brittany go and quickly zipped up into the air, flexing her arms, which now looked healthy and properly furred. "I'm a regular megafox."  
  
    "That _said_ ," Bogo pointed at her with a serious and reproving expression, "this sort of extra empowerment has no precedent. You are to remain  _off_ active duty until we know exactly how this has affected you mentally."  
  
    "Mentally?" Brittany echoed, looking worried immediately.  
  
    "Her brain naturally has had to adjust to use new powers," Bogo frowned, "we're hoping it hasn't shaken anything loose."  
  
    "What, can't a girl be happy?" Skye grinned, holding her arms out wide. "I've been like this before, y'know, before everything happened. Ol' Sunny Skye, that's what they called me!" She drove a thumb into her chest. "You remember those days, right Bobo?"  
  
    "With some ambivalence," Bogo huffed. "Nevertheless, my orders stand. I'm not risking your mental and newly acquired physical health because of unknown variables."  
  
    "Yessir," Skye saluted, looking momentarily serious before landing and a bright smile exploding onto her face. She messed with Britany's head fur and ears, making the fox squint. "Aaaa! You're so soft!"  
  
    "Um, thanks..." Brittany giggled.  
  
    "By the way, Skye," Bogo grinned. "Rumor has it that Marvin cooked you up a whopper of a chicken sandwich."  
  
    Skye's jaw dropped and her paw froze mid-scritch. "No _way_."  
  
    "'Way'," Bogo made air quotes. "Better go while it's hot."  
  
    "It better be so hot that my healing factor needs to kick in on my tongue!" Skye blurted, excitedly grabbing Brittany by the wrist. "C'mon, Bree! Let's have lunch!"  
  
    "Skye, I uh!" Brittany blinked. "Bogo was gonna talk to me about something?" She looked at Bogo, as if for permission.  
  
    "The offer will still be open after lunch, Brittany," Bogo smiled. "Enjoy yourself."  
  
    "Good to see you up on your feet, Skye," Judy smiled. "Feels like I'm meeting you again for the first time."  
  
    "I'm only on my feet when I want to be," the capricious vixen winked, zipping up into the air and relaxing, kicking through the air as if she was swimming.  
  
    Brittany followed her to the cafeteria, feeling as though she was in a dream.  
  


* * *

  
    Skye had absolutely no restraint while eating her chicken sandwich.   
  
    "Mmfh, mmggh, oh, it's so hot!" Skye's eyes watered as she chowed down on a spicy chicken sandwich that looked like it was constructed for someone twice her size. "Sooo goooood...!"  
  
    Embarrassment flushed Brittany's face as she rather daintily ate from her shrimp cream pasta.  
  
    Skye laughed in pure joy. "Wow, the healing factor actually does work on it. The sting leaves almost as soon as it hits my tongue! Interesting!"  
  
    "I'm so glad you're better, Skye," Brittany smiled gently. "I'm... glad everyone was able to work hard to heal you."  
  
    "Yeah, I'm grateful," Skye slowed down her pace, beginning to frown. "I won't lie, I went through a lot, for a long time. It was... sometimes I wondered if it was all worth anything. But after today? Totally."  
  
    "Because of the chicken sandwich," Brittany said with a reserved smile.  
  
    "You know it!" Skye took an enthusiastic chomp. "Mmm, never been so happy to be a carnivore! My delicious chicken, I will never take you for granted again! OMM!"  
  
    Brittany sighed, both happy at her friend's recovery and made slightly uncomfortable by her antics.  
  
    "So um, you saw the tape, huh?" Brittany probed cautiously.  
  
    Skye's ravenous bites slowed, and she swallowed with equal slowness. "Yeah, I did."  
  
    "So you know what happened," the smaller vixen pursued.  
  
    "Mm," Skye nodded once, looking away.  
  
    "You know I killed Jack," Brittany clarified bluntly.   
  
    "It had to be done, Bree," Skye said carefully, the levity emptying from her voice. "I... I didn't want you to get caught up in this, but now that you have, I can't say the world is worse for it. Sometimes I laid there in bed, wishing I could will him to feel a hundredth of the suffering I was going through. Wishing that I could figure out some sort of use for my astral form. To _hurt_ him, probably. But it's useless to do anything except mess around when I'm unconscious."  
  
    "So... you  _want_ me to become an Enforcer, then?" Brittany looked glum.  
  
    "Not if you don't want to!" Skye shook her paws this way and that. "Never if you don't want to. I've heard talk that it affected you. Even though he was complete  _scum_ and had it coming to him..."  
  
    Brittany said nothing in response, looking at a small shrimp that she chased around her dish.  
  
    "But listen to me turning into Cloudy Skye again," Skye giggled uneasily, "when what we  _should_ be doing is praising you for being so amazing!"  
  
    "It was just luck, from everything I heard," Brittany mumbled.  
  
    "Luck is the currency of the heavens," came Kain's voice, and he hopped up on the far end of the table. "And it's up to them who it is doled out to."  
  
    "Kain," Brittany blinked. "I haven't see you since the incident."  
  
    "Well, I'm not very much sought after," Kain grinned, sniffing the air. "Oh, the Ninetails is awake, and with all of her tails bright and flowing as well."  
  
    "Humor him," Skye suggested.  
  
    Brittany seemed to be doing this already. "Kain, is what Bogo said true? That the way he leads caused your visions to be cloudy?"  
  
    "Without firmer direction, more possibilities are possible," Kain said, "when one is obedient, it increases the odds one will act in a particular manner, while not eliminating erroneous actions. ...There were far too many possibilities in the fight for me to see clearly the outcome. But there was one thing I could see for a certainty."  
  
    "Me?" Brittany looked unsteady.  
  
    "Your presence there was not foreordained," Kain shook his head. "But if you were there, and you were pressed to your limit, the Crushing Pall had no chance but to be lifted. It is why I could see that so well."  
  
    "So uh," Brittany scratched at the side of her muzzle, "do you smell-slash-see anything about me now?"  
  
    Kain shrugged, taking a sniff of the air. "Only that you will continue to flap both of your wings, Bird With Differing Wings."  
  
    "Aaaand his power is back to being vague and useless again," Skye rolled her eyes.  
  
    "Don't be mean, Skye," Brittany stuck her tongue out. "At least it means I'm gonna keep going."  
  
    Kain smiled a charming little smile, then took his leave.  
  


* * *

  
    Two weeks later, a calm evening breeze made the fields of the Meadowlands very pleasant. The air rushed around Brittany as she flew through it, seated atop her new Mark IV rod device. Flame spewed from the rear as she flew, and course corrections could be made with adjustable ancillary openings on the sides of the rod, near its main exhaust. Brittany still felt rather scared while flying through the air, but that was good. Ironically, it gave her even more control; the will to not fall made the flame powerful enough to sustain her flight. Brittany kept a decent altitude, far enough off the ground so that no foliage was threatened by her flames, but close enough that a fall might not end in disaster. Clothed in her favorite dark purple outfit, she fought the urge to actually cackle like a "witch" as the stars shone in the night sky and the crescent moon showed its partly concealed face.  
  
    She should have; no one would have heard her.  
  
    Brittany eased off the flames and came in for a landing a few buildings down from an abandoned construction area among a small patch of trees. She spun the Mark IV once in her hand, shortened it slightly, then broke it off in the middle, carrying a wand in each hand. Closing her eyes and focusing, she called up her heat vision power, confirming her target. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the ambivalent, conflicting feelings of purpose and nervousness she felt. A small burst of flame held steady on one wand, and a puff of swirling cold on the other. She opened her eyes and moved herself forward all in one go.  
  
    Nick was sitting on a bit of the unfinished scaffolding, noticed Brittany, and flinched exaggeratedly. In a blink, he was on the very top of the unfinished structure.  
  
    "Whoa there! That you, sorceress?" Nick's voice had the tone of ease, but the sound of a startled animal.  
  
    "You know, you _could_ call me by my name," Brittany said sardonically. "Wouldn't hurt."  
  
    "Oh, but it would," Nick called down. "Every time I use someone's real name, it saps some of my speed energy. 'Nick'names, you get what I'm saying?"  
  
    Brittany's eyes narrowed.  
  
    "Yeah, I'm kidding," Nick went on. "What are you doing here with your little glowsticks?"  
  
    "I just want to talk to you," Brittany called out.  
  
    "Sure looks like it," Nick laughed sarcastically.  
  
    "Sorry," Brittany dispelled the puffs of energy. "You can move so fast I figured I should be at the ready in case you tried something." She placed the wands back together and changed it back into a full-length rod, driving it into the ground and leaning on it.  
  
    "Fancy toy you got there," Nick chuckled, zipping down to be in casual talking range. He folded his arms, looking skeptically at the unclear expression on Brittany's face.  
  
    "Yeah, pretty neat, huh?" Brittany grinned, shooting small bursts of fire from the opening, then growing ice crystals from them so the rod resembled an icy trident.  
  
    "So what, you just here to show off?" Nick huffed. He took a breath and sighed. "Hey, in all honesty, thanks for the save back there with the psycho rabbit. I was in a rare and humbling position of extreme disadvantage there, and I hope I won't be there again any time soon."  
  
    "Don't mention it, seriously," Brittany said in an uneasy tone, rolling her eyes away. "So uh, you fought Judy at all since then?"  
  
    "Not yet, and I've appreciated the break," Nick explained, looking around. "Dang, and this was my favorite place too. Ol' Buffalo-Brain couldn't find me in it, or at least I supposed that was the case. Guess I'll have to look for another one."  
  
    "I'm not going to tell them about this place," Brittany said, following his gaze. "I'm here alone." A thought struck her. "Uh- of course I still have backup, though! So... so don't try anything."  
  
    "Boy, a special agent you are _not_ ," Nick laughed. "It's all right, it's not for everyone."  
  
    "You... doing okay, then?" Brittany asked. Her voice betrayed the stalling nature of the question, but Nick chose to indulge her.  
  
    "Never better, my pretty," the fox grinned. "Truly. I got a 'mysterious' windfall a little awhile ago. Wonder where it could possibly have come from."  
  
    Brittany huffed in amusement at his sarcastic tone. "How did that even get to you?"  
  
    "Let's say one of your guys knows one of my guys and leave it at that," Nick said with a mysterious glint in his eye. "That aside, I'm guessing you didn't come here out of concern for my well-being."  
  
    "No... I didn't," Brittany looked at the ground. "Nick... what was it like for you, killing someone? How did you deal?"  
  
    "Shoo..." Nick folded his arms again, looking at the starry sky. "Y'know, this is why this is a great place. Not as much artificial light from Zootopia proper gets out here. You can see a lot of stars that way."  
  
    Brittany frowned and turned away. "Tch... never mind."  
  
    "Hey- now kit, listen," Nick groaned, holding his paws up partway. "I'm not a therapist. I can only tell you what happened."  
  
    "I'll listen," Brittany looked at him sidelong.  
  
    Nick sat down on a half-finished wall. "Well, the first one was the murderer. She thought she had me, and I was willing to let her think that. Okay, that's a lie. I was nowhere near confident. I was scared out of my mind. Even though I knew what I could do and how to do it, actually  _doing_ it was like jumping off a cliff. And once I did, wow. It was not pretty. Broke her neck instantly."  
  
    Brittany wrapped her free paw around her midsection after rubbing the back of her neck.  
  
    "It shocked me that it was so easy," Nick frowned. "I mean, we're both predators; our ancestors made quick kills all the time. But to actually do it to another mammal, it was... uncomfortable. That and you have to stare at the reality of what you've done, then figure out how to get away with it."  
  
    "I guess in that respect I was lucky," Brittany looked away.  
  
    "Never said that," Nick shook his head. "What you do hangs with you like a cloud. The real problem came with the second one. Holideer. I was 'lucky' enough to spy on some of his power abuses after I followed a car he got into mysteriously; owner said he just  _gave_ the car away to him and didn't know why, so I thought something was up. He did some messed up stuff with the mammals he was with, kit. Shoo." The fox got a thousand-yard stare for a moment. "Figured I could just break most of the bones in his body, make him suffer. I could do anything I wanted to him in the position I had. I decided he'd be way too much trouble to keep alive, heck, he might even be able to hypnotize me. So I took him out. Was a traumatizing experience, mostly for the mammals he had under his control."  
  
    "That was the only other time you killed someone?" Brittany asked quietly.  
  
    "Yup," Nick nodded. "And then... I realized I was going down a pretty slippery slope. That type of power that mammals like you and I have. We have the power to make decisions and just...  _do_ things that no other mammal can. But does it make us better judicators? No. I probably should have found some other way to deal with Holideer. But killing him was easy, too easy. That's the problem. I could do anything I wanted, and I picked the thing that was the most wrong. Made me pretty much as bad as him, to be honest."  
  
    "Did you keep being a vigilante, though?" Brittany wondered. "After you stopped killing?"  
  
    "Oh yeah, just had to get more creative," Nick smirked, reclining into a relaxed position. "I fancied myself a modern-day Robin Hood. They ever teach you about that guy in your empowered classes?"  
  
    "Ah, Robin Hood," Brittany nodded. "He was like- he was the first red fox to be well-documented as a vigilante. This was before the ZED was formed. He had a bow but no arrows. He made his arrows out of his willpower, or that's what they said."  
  
    "Just so," Nick clicked his teeth and pointed at her. "He had that whole 'rob from the rich and give to the poor' motive. But you know what's funny? His powers were nothin' compared to the likes of you and I. He did what he did, not because it was easy, but because it was hard. He didn't have super speed to outrun anyone. His arrows apparently never killed anyone, they could just knock them back or out. He made a name for himself with his gumption, charm, and acrobatics."  
  
    "I think sensibilities were a little different back then," Brittany noted.  
  
    "Maybe, but  _class_ never goes out of style," Nick grinned. "I tried to temper my actions with 'would this be how Robin Hood did things'? Guy could be an insufferable so-and-so, or so they say, but he always taught lessons to his defeated foes. Now whether they wanted to listen, that was another thing."  
  
    "You two have a lot in common, huh?" Brittany smirked.  
  
    "I'm glad you think so," Nick smiled with a touch of obnoxiousness. "I can't tell you if that strategy will work for you or not. I'm not- I'm not the best at dealing with troubles and moral quandaries. But I can tell you something."  
  
    "That is...?" Brittany leaned in.  
  
    "You're strong, kit, really strong," Nick grinned. "And I don't mean because you throw a nasty fireball. You've got that inner strength. From what I can tell about your powers, it seems like you're only as strong as you are because you have a strong heart."  
  
    "Um, thank you," Brittany smiled bashfully, feeling self-conscious.  
  
    Nick shook his head, gesturing with a paw. "What I'm saying is, you'll get through this. May take a little while or a long while, but I'm done with underestimating you. I just hope you can find what you're looking for in this world."  
  
    "I'm looking," Brittany said with a smile. "Thank you, Nick. I'll let you get back to your stargazing."  
  
    "Appreciate it," Nick said, kicking back even further.   
  
    Brittany mounted her rod and lifted off, leaving a bit of fire in the mostly-barren ground of the site, which quickly lost strength. Nick stared at it in concern, but then his attention locked on Brittany as she flew a few rings around the site, leaving swirls of fire in the air.  
  
    "Now I  _know_ you're showing off," Nick rolled his eyes.  
  
    "Bye, Nick!" Brittany giggled, blasting off into the night.  
  


* * *

  
    Brittany and her father exited her room into the hallway of the residential area, where Bogo waited, balancing on his cane in front of him with both hands.  
  
    "So, um, you said you had something to tell me?" Nigel asked the buffalo, who nodded.  
  
    "Kinsey is empowered," Bogo said bluntly.  
  
    Nigel let out a carefully guarded sigh. "Guess I should have known. What kind of powers does she have?"  
  
    "Telekinesis," Bogo said, gesturing, "she can move things with her mind. However!" He held up a finger. "Not only would it take a  _lot_ of practice to reach her full potential, her power is inversely proportional to the mass of the object being moved."  
  
    "Er, meaning..." Nigel tilted his head.  
  
    "At maximum potential, she would have difficulty moving, say, a mid-size car with her mind, but she'd be able to control not only several trays of ice cubes, but all the cubes themselves with no problem."  
  
    Brittany narrowed an eye. "What kind of measuring stick is 'a tray of ice cubes'?"  
  
    "Give me a break, here Brittany," Bogo said. "You try to think of something on a moment's notice."  
  
    "Uh... Pawpsicle sticks...?" Brittany shrugged. "Great, now my mind is on frozen treats."  
  
    "So... what should I do?" Nigel wondered, looking at both his daughter and her commander in turn.  
  
    "I think... you could probably get away with not telling her," Brittany folded her arms, throwing her weight out onto a hip. Her tail flicked. "The way I see it, if you told her she would probably just try really hard to get her powers to work, which might make her get into trouble. If you don't tell her, then she doesn't try to bother with it."  
  
    "How long would it take her to reach 'max potential'?" Nigel wondered.  
  
    "Years, maybe a decade of practice, at this rate," Bogo shook his head. "But! I would advise you check in with me again when she's a teenager. She could go from zero to one hundred very quickly. It's a device of puberty; it can have unpredictable effects on empowered."  
  
    "Uh-understood," Nigel nodded.  
  
    "So, did you discuss what I've decided to do with Mom yet?" Brittany smiled, leaning forward.   
  
    "Er, I have, and," Nigel cleared his throat. "Well, it  _does_ sound dangerous, but I have a feeling I'm well past the right to tell you what to do with your life."  
  
    "RAAAWR!"  
    "Aaaagh!" Nigel screamed.  
  
    A cyan spectral figure leaped out of the wall, as if to pounce, and traveled right through Nigel, who cowered and threw his arms up to defend himself.  
  
    "Haha! Gotcha!" Skye's astral form whirled around in midair and "sat" in the air in front of the three.  
  
    "Skye...!" Brittany thrust her hands on her hips, giving her a reproving glare. "What the heck are you doing asleep already? It's the middle of the day!"  
  
    "Sor-ree, Bree!" Skye rolled her eyes. "They've got me doing all kinds of tests with my power. The super speed bursts  _really_ tire me out; I don't know how Nick does it!"  
  
    "Well, he  _does_ have far more practice than you with managing his energy," Bogo huffed.   
  
    Skye seemed to notice Nigel as he composed himself, retrieving his glasses from the floor. "Oh hey, you're here." Skye gasped, whirling around like a spectral snake and appearing nearer to Brittany. "Ooh, does that mean your sister's here, too? Can I meet her?"  
  
    "Not as a ghost, you can't!" Brittany scolded. "Don't freak her out. Who knows if a panic spike like that might spook her into unleashing the beginnings of her abilities."  
  
    "Mmmm, fine," Skye mumbled, turning to Bogo. "Bobo, wake me up."  
  
    Bafflement plastered onto Bogo's face. "Did you just... give me an _order_?"  
  
    Skye closed her eyes and dramatically thrust her paw in the direction of her new room, pointing as an exclamation point to the demand.  
  
    "One second," Bogo muttered, stomping down the hall. The two female vixens giggled at his temperament.  
  
    "So you're... asleep right now?" Nigel blinked, adjusting his glasses. "That's kind of confusing. ...Do you dream?"  
  
    "Huh!" Skye smirked. "That's kind of a romantic question. Yeah, I dream all the time. I'm a lucid dreamer; I can remember almost all of them. I gotta have some normal dreams sometimes, everyone does, but if I get bored of it, I can just leave!"  
  
    "Really..." Nigel marveled. "How do you do that?"  
  
    "Oh, that's easy!" Skye bat her paw, then held up a thumb and a forefinger. "I just-"  
  
    Skye instantly vanished.  
  
    "...Skye?" Nigel looked left and right.  
  
    "Guess we'll never know," Brittany half-smiled.   
  
    "Is she all right?" Nigel blinked, turning to his daughter.  
  
    "She's fine, Dad," Brittany rolled her eyes. "Bogo just woke her up."  
  
    "Ah," Nigel scratched behind his ear. "This is all very confusing."  
  
    "Skye's actually one of the _less_ confusing ones," Brittany claimed, bemused. "Let's go back inside; we probably have some time before Skye gets here. She'll want to fluff herself up."  
  
    The moment she opened her door, Brittany was greeted by her little sister shoving a mallard plush in her face.   
  
    "Can I have this!?"  
  
    Brittany flinched at the assault, and noticed it was that silly duck plush she had that was wearing a wide-brimmed gray hat.   
  
    "Kinsey!" Delilah reproved, sitting on Brittany's bed. "You can't just demand something like that! Those are your sister's!"  
  
    "What's she need 'em for?" Kinsey pouted, looking at her mother. "She's a grown-up. Why's she need dolls?"  
  
    Brittany giggled. "Well, everyone needs a nice soft thing to hug every once in awhile, no matter how old you are." She looked at her small mountain of bird-based plushies. "Kinsey, you can have _one_ of my plushies, so choose carefully."  
  
    Kinsey gasped. "Okay!" She started tearing into the mountain of plushies and scattering them around the room while looking for the perfect one.  
  
    "Kinsey..." Nigel shook his head.   
  
    "I'll just have Skye clean them up with her new super speed," Brittany grinned. "Or wait, it might not work like that..."   
  
    "This one!" Kinsey appeared from the plush pile, triumphantly holding up a pretty, flowing-looking fantasy bird plush with soft blues and purples and a lot of long plumage.  
  
    "You're sure this is okay?" Delilah winced.  
  
    "Hm, this one's pretty fancy, huh?" Brittany grinned, taking it out of her paws and analyzing it. "I wonder what this says about you..."  
  
    "Brittany..." Nigel huffed. "I mean, c'mon, she  _is_ only seven..."  
  
    "Eh, you can have it," Brittany nodded.  
  
    "Yay! Thank you!" Kinsey squealed, launching herself into Brittany's arms.  
  
    "Oof!" Brittany rocked as the plush got slammed between the two. Brittany coughed. "Ugh! She's got the hugging thing down, doesn't she...?"  
  
    "Oh yeah, she's a hugger," Nigel smiled.  
  
    "So, Dad talked to you about what I'm gonna do, right?" Brittany looked at her mother.  
  
    "Yes," Delilah nodded, looking pensive and somewhat worried, but then she nodded. "I think you'll do well, Brittany, and you will do good. You will do good and well."  
  
    "Thanks guys," Brittany hugged her sister, then set her down.  
  
    "Did Mr. Bogo say if I have powers yet?" Kinsey asked up at her sister with wide eyes. Brittany looked toward her father.  
  
    "Mmh- _maybe_ when you're older, Kinsey," Nigel said hesitantly. His wife shot him an alarmed look. "We'll... have to talk later, honey."  
  
    Brittany hummed as her sister made a joyous little cacophony at the news. It was feeling much better for her to have her family in her life again, and if her sister did end up awakening her abilities, she resolved she'd be there to help her as best she could.  
  


* * *

  
    The buildings whizzed by as Brittany flew at high speeds. She wasn't sure which way to go next, and almost hazarded closing her eyes. Using heat vision while she was flying would have been incredibly dangerous, so she shook her head and kept going straight.   
  
    "Stay focused, Voxen!" Bogo's voice said into a communicator on her ear. "Next block on your left!"  
  
    Brittany banked and flew towards the incident she had seen. She floated down, and leaped to the ground when she was a few feet in the air. Her new uniform was a bit tight in places, but she did feel really mobile in it. Also kind of cool, if she was honest.  
  
    In front of her were some panicking mammals of all kinds, notably a pig and a rhino up at the forefront.  
  
    "I'm Brittany Voxen of the Zootopia Empowered Division Assistance!" Brittany declared, swiping her rod and changing it into a wand. "Is anyone hurt!?"  
  
    Mammals looked at her, some marveling, and most gave way to the incident at hand.  
  
    Brittany blinked. "Ooh jeez, what the...!?"   
  
    In front of her was a typical, though large vehicle fire, but what was odd was its fuel. It appeared to be two cars completely mashed together in an impossible way, like a sculpture of twisted metal.  
  
    "Stand back, I can deal with this!" Brittany pointed her wand out. The situation was making her nervous and anxious. It was, after all, her first time really "on the job". She held onto that feeling, and the fire leaped up from it's fuel like an obedient pet. Brittany focused on her breath and pointed at the fire with her wand with a gentle sternness, and it shrank and vanished, replaced by a burst of cool air.  
  
    "Whoa..."  
    "Never seen anything like it!"  
    "Dang..."  
    "You idiot! Look what you did! How'm I supposed to get home now!?"  
  
    Brittany flinched at the last line. It appeared that the rhino hanging around earlier had said it, and he was yelling at a cringing middle-aged pig.  
  
    "I don't know!" The pig cowered. "I'm sorry! I didn't... I didn't mean it!"  
  
    "What's going on here?" Brittany asked, walking forward.  
  
    "This  _pig_ smashed my car into someone else's, then the both of them went up!" The rhino raged, stomping the ground twice in frustration.  
      
    "And... how did he do that?" Brittany narrowed one eye.  
  
    "I dunno, I think he's one a you empowered!" The rhino gestured flippantly. "I'm pretty sure my insurance company ain't gonna cover... whatever _this_ is!" He thrust his hands at the improbable double car structure.  
  
    "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The pig looked like he was panicking pretty badly. "I just... it was the way you parked, I just wanted the car... over there!" He placed his hands forward, then moved them to the side, and the smoking wreckage vanished and appeared several feet to the side, right in front of a car trying to exit the parking lot. "Oh my God, I did it again!"  
  
    "What the hell, guy!?" Another pig made a put-upon gesture as he rolled down his window.  
  
    "Everybody calm down, let's take this one step at a time," Brittany said. She had to find calm most of all, but she was finding it. "Sir, what's your name?"  
  
    "Gerardo," the pig stammered before continuing, "I-I-I dunno, I was just so frustrated today... this's never happened to me before, the moving of the things..."  
  
    Brittany smiled. "I think we at the ZED can help you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Familiar Fire. Thanks for humoring me down this original character-focused alternate universe. It's kind of gratifying to know that this has got a comparable amount of hits to some of my other larger stories, despite things like time and waning interest in the fandom seeping in. That, and it being a superhero story probably carves it into an even smaller niche!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented, SomeKindaDurgon my proofreader and friend, and all the rest who talked with me about the story with surprising enthusiasm.
> 
> Gotta say it does feel nice to be able to pull off a story with no romance in it, though the fluffy stuff always will call out to me.
> 
> Hope you guys have a great period of time of your choosing. Thanks for reading and hope to see you again later.


End file.
